Swansea to trial smart bandages within a year
- Author:Ella Cai
- Release on:2017-04-20
Smart bandages that connect to 5G networks to communicate the progress of a healing wound to doctors are likely to begin trials within a year.
Swansea University’s Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) is developing the bandages, which would include sensors that can detect complications such as blood clots or infections and then communicate the information over 5G networks.
The programme would also collect data on patients through their smartphones about their activity levels, which can impact on recovery speed.
Ultimately, the technology would create a range of data that would help doctors to assess the patient’s treatment needs and avoid unnecessary appointments.
The research is part of Swansea’s £1.3bn Swansea Bay City programme, which is aiming to create a 5G test hub.
Professor Marc Clement, chairman of the ILS, told the BBC: “Traditional medicine may be where a clinician might see a patient and then prescribe the treatment approach for a month or three months.
“What the future holds is a world where there’s the ability to vary the treatment to the individual, the lifestyle and the pattern of life.”
The bandages would be manufactured using 3D printing technology. Clement described the project as a “multi-technology approach” that incorporates nanotechnology, nanoelectronics, printing and coating biochemistry.
Swansea University’s Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) is developing the bandages, which would include sensors that can detect complications such as blood clots or infections and then communicate the information over 5G networks.
The programme would also collect data on patients through their smartphones about their activity levels, which can impact on recovery speed.
Ultimately, the technology would create a range of data that would help doctors to assess the patient’s treatment needs and avoid unnecessary appointments.
The research is part of Swansea’s £1.3bn Swansea Bay City programme, which is aiming to create a 5G test hub.
Professor Marc Clement, chairman of the ILS, told the BBC: “Traditional medicine may be where a clinician might see a patient and then prescribe the treatment approach for a month or three months.
“What the future holds is a world where there’s the ability to vary the treatment to the individual, the lifestyle and the pattern of life.”
The bandages would be manufactured using 3D printing technology. Clement described the project as a “multi-technology approach” that incorporates nanotechnology, nanoelectronics, printing and coating biochemistry.
