Biopharma Business

Smart bandages that can detect how a wound is healing and send messages back doctors could be trialled within the next year, says the BBC

Swansea University’s Institute of Life Science (ILS) has been leading the work on the bandages which use real-time 5G technology to determine what treatment is needed as well as keep track of a patient’s activity levels.

The work is part of the Swansea Bay City deal, a £1.3bn initiative which will create a 5G test hub for digital innovation.

Prof Marc Clement, chairman of the Institute of Life Science (ILS), told the BBC: “5G is an opportunity to produce resilient, robust bandwidth that is always there for the purpose of healthcare.

“That intelligent dressing uses nano-technology to sense the state of that wound at any one specific time.

“It would connect that wound to a 5G infrastructure and that infrastructure through your telephone will also know things about you – where you are, how active you are at any one time.

“You combine all of that intelligence so the clinician knows the performance of the specific wound at any specific time and can then tailor the treatment protocol to the individual and wound in question.

“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.

“Sometimes we revere doctors so much that we tell them all is well but all of the evidence is there before them in this 5G world, so the clinician and patient can work together to address the challenge.”

Written by Lu Rahman