“Smart” bandage iCares detects wound status in real time

Wei Gao, a professor of medical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, and his colleagues present the smart bandage of the future, a “laboratory on the skin” that will not only help patients and medical staff monitor the status of chronic wounds, but also provide treatment and accelerate the healing process of those cuts, wounds, scrapes and burns that are slow to heal on their own.

In 2023, Gao’s team overcame the first obstacle to achieving this goal by showing that the smart bandage they developed could provide real-time data on the status of chronic wounds in animal models, and speed up the healing process by applying timely medication or electric fields to stimulate tissue growth.

Now Gao and his colleagues at the California Institute of Technology and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California have overcome another hurdle by demonstrating that an improved version of their bandage, which they called iCares, was able to continuously take samples of the fluid that the body sends to wounds as part of the inflammatory response in 20 patients with chronic wounds. These wounds were unable to heal due to either diabetes or poor circulation. The researchers also studied the patients before and after surgery.

The smart bandage, equipped with three different microfluidic components – tiny modules that direct and otherwise control fluid flow – removes excess moisture from wounds and provides real-time data on biomarkers present.

“Our innovative microfluidic system removes moisture from the wound, promoting healing. It also allows us to analyze fresh fluid samples rather than a mixture of old and new media. To get accurate results, we only need to sample the newest fluid at the wound site,” says Gao, who is also a researcher at Heritage Medical Research Institute. -“In this way, iCares can monitor important biomarkers of inflammation and infection in real time.

Indeed, in a new paper published in Science Translational Medicine, Gao and colleagues show that the smart dressing can detect molecules such as nitric oxide, an indicator of inflammation, and hydrogen peroxide, a biomarker of infection, potentially one to three days before patients experience symptoms.

In addition, the team has developed a machine learning algorithm that can successfully categorize patients’ wounds and predict healing times with accuracy comparable to that of an expert clinician.

The bandage consists of a flexible, biocompatible polymer band that can be 3D printed at minimal cost. It incorporates a nanotechnology biomarker sensor array that is disposable and designed for hygiene and one-time use. The system also includes a reusable circuit board that processes the signal and transmits the data wirelessly to a user interface such as a smartphone. The triad of microfluidic modules in iCares includes a membrane that sucks wound fluid from the wound surface, a bioactive component that carries the fluid through the device to a sensor array where it is analyzed, and a micropipette module that carries the sampled fluid to the outside of the dressing.

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Published: 24.04.2025

Updated: 24.04.2025

Medical author, Medical editor:

Stepan Yuk