SMART Bandage for Monitoring Wound Perfusion

ABSTRACT: Continuous supply of oxygen to the tissue is essential for wound healing and resistance to infection. Oxygen provides the additional energy source for the repairing process. In the early stage of wound repair, fibroblasts start to migrate, divide, and produce collagen. To promote fibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis, oxygen must be present in sufficient quantities. Angiogenesis in wounds is also affected by the oxygen level. Polymorphonuclear cells are one of the first lines of defense against bacteria in wound sites and produce superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen, and other products via the respiratory burst to kill bacteria, and their function is directly dependent on oxygen tensions. Therefore, knowing tissue oxygenation accurately can improve wound healing and surgical outcome. Triton Systems, Inc. proposes to optimize a transparent wound dressing and a monitoring device that provide real-time maps of tissue oxygenation that have been developed in Phase I. The proposed technology provides a non-invasive, robust, and user-friendly method to monitor tissue perfusion in real time in a wide area during the course of a treatment. ; BENEFIT: The proposed wound dressing and monitoring device would improve the understanding of the role of oxygen in wound healing. Moreover, it can also be used to assess the wound oxygenation in response to different treatments, which can lead to better therapeutic regimens and better patient managements.