To Heal, Just Add Water

Millions of Americans live with chronic wounds, which can take months or more to heal — if they ever do. Researchers at NC State University have helped develop a new battery-powered bandage that speeds up the healing process.

The disposable wound dressings have electrodes on one side and a small, “biocompatible” battery on the other. Simply apply a drop of water to activate it, and the bandage will produce an electric field for several hours.

“Anybody, without any training, should be able to use these bandages,” said Amay Bandodkar, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engin-eering at NC State.
In animal testing, wounds that were treated with these electric bandages healed 30% faster than wounds treated with conventional bandages. But existing electric wound dressings are costly and complex.

“That electric field is critical, because it’s well established that electric fields accelerate healing in chronic wounds,” said Rajaram Kaveti, a postdoctoral researcher at NC State.
The work was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the ASSIST Center (Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies) at NC State.

Last fall, NC State’s Office of Research Commercialization filed a patent on Bandodkar’s behalf for the electric bandage technology.

This post was originally published in College of Engineering News.