When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Using a bandage that glows under ultraviolet light if a wound is infected could dramatically change a patient’s medical care. Now, scientists at Sheffield University in the U.K. have developed a polymer gel containing bandage that fluoresces pink if the wound contains dangerous levels of bacteria.
“As well as shining a spotlight on bacteria, the gel can rid a wound of up to 80% of surface bugs in about three hours,” according to the BBC.
Sheffield researcher Sheila MacNeil, who is an expert in tissue engineering and wound healing, told The Engineer:
The polymers incorporate a fluorescent dye and are engineered to recognise and attach to bacteria, collapsing around them as they do so. This change in polymer shape generates a fluorescent signal that we’ve been able to detect using a hand-held UV lamp.
Steve Rimmer, the project lead from Sheffield, told media outlets that “The availability of these gels would help clinicians and wound care nurses to make rapid, informed decisions about wound management and help reduce the overuse of antibiotics.”
The bandage glows in response to both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Bacteria that glowed include causes of Legionella, Salmonella, E. coli, MRSA, C. difficile, meningitis, and peritonitis. The Engineer reports that the polymer is called PNIPAM, is modified with an antibiotic called vancomycin, and contains a fluorescent dye called ethidium bromide.
The glowing bandage would be a much faster way to detect bacteria than the current method, which is a days-long process of swabbing the wound and culturing those swabs in a laboratory. The team thinks that its technology can ultimately reduce the detection of bacterial infection to within a few hours, or even less, according to The Engineer.
The researchers told the media outlets that they hope to have the polymer in clinical trials in two or three years.
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