Fluorescent Wound Dressing Could Reduce Post-Op Infections

Right now we’re learning about infection control at school. Since I spent 40 hours in a hospital each week, I’m trying to absorb every bit of information possible. It’s actually quite fascinating, and I regret never taking microbiology because I think I’d love it.

Anyway, it was perfect timing that an article about early infection detection popped up in my Facebook News Feed today. It appears that scientists have created a prototype wound dressing that’s able to detect the presence of bacteria at a much earlier stage of infection.

Photo credit: Intelligent hydrogel wound dressing by University of Bath, via American Chemical Society

The dressing is triggered by a biofilm, a substance created by colonizing bacteria. It’s made up of DNA, proteins, and complex sugars. If detected, the dressing will react with it and turn a bright fluorescent color.

Infection is the most likely reason people wind up back in the hospital following surgery. A wound dressing like this one could certainly help to reduce the number of post-op infections. In testing, the dressing was able to detect the presence of bacteria within four hours from the initial invasion.

You can read more about the wound dressing on IFL Science, or dive into the research in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.