Project description
Smart dressings for wound care
Millions of people suffer from skin wounds that won't heal, with treatment being lengthy and costly. Wound dressings are frequently removed manually to visually inspect the healing process, and often the patients' wellbeing is compromised by the risk of infection. Hence, more efficient solutions are necessary. The EU-funded SWORD project is developing a smart dressing with sensors that monitor conditions in the patient's wound and the dressing itself. It will alert through the wireless link the medical staff of the possibility of infection or other issues, removing the necessity of dressing inspections. New composites will be studied to involve smart hybrid materials and tools using electrospinning or other technologies for effective wound care. The project will offer substantial savings in costs and efficiency in the healing process.
Objective
The project aims to combine the expertise and resources of four academic groups working at the frontiers of material research and two SMEs, one engaged in producing commercial medical materials as well as having own research capacities. The Consortium plans to develop wound dressings which an be rated as a radical innovation in the area of chronic wound care. Our efforts will concentrate on the design of a new product which will combine diagnostic and therapeutic actions and facilitate wound healing, while at the same time minimize treatment costs and optimize wound management thus positively influencing patient's wellbeing.
A range of new composites derived from naturally occurring materials, such as chitin and halloysite combined with colloids will be studied. The ensuing hybrid materials will be processed using micro- and nano-manipulating tools, including roll-to-roll and electrospinning technologies. A thorough characterization program will be undertaken in order to understand the molecular-level interactions between the composite components. The determination of materials structure will allow a complete understanding of how their properties originate so that they can be tailored to precisely fit their application. The dressing will feature diagnostic sensors capable of measuring pH, humidity, temperature and associated bacterial activity as well as a highly absorbent layer designed to drain the wound and release therapeutic agents.
Each member of the Consortium is well-resourced in terms of facilities, infrastructure and technology transfer support so as to provide an ideal environment for the research program, the training of younger researchers and the exploitation of findings.
Leveraging from nationally funded grants and actively engaging in research exchanges while seeking to produce a radical innovation in the area of 'smart' dressings the project will address all three key drivers of the knowledge-based society, namely research, education an innovation.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Coordinator
845 07 Bratislava
Slovakia