In this episode, a gel-like material that takes bandages to the next level. Welcome to your Manufacturing Minute.
Engineers at MIT have found a way to make bandages smarter. They have developed a gel-like material, made up of water mixed with biopolymers, which are sticky, stretchable and can be combined with sensors, lights and drug delivery systems to create smart wound dressing.
The material stretches with body movements allowing it to adhere perfectly to the area around a wound and it can administer a dose of medication as needed in response to skin temperatures that it measures via embedded sensors. The material is also able to create a strong bond with other surfaces including metals, silicon, glass and ceramic. When the bandage is running low on medicine, it can notify a physician or patient via a light.
The team is interested in next using the hydrogel as a carrier for glucose sensors inside the body, as well as for neural probes in the brain.
So, What Do You Think?
Is this truly the “Smart Band-Aid” for the 21st century? What other ways could this technology be used?
Email us or leave your comments below.
Well that’s all the time we have today, but tune in every weekday for your next Manufacturing Minute.