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'Smart' bandage that fights infection using tiny glowing capsules of antibiotics
By
Niall Firth
Last updated at 5:27 PM on 8th July 2010
A 'smart' dressing which illuminates as it releases bug-busting antibiotics into wounds is being developed by British scientists.
The state-of-the-art bandage is filled with tiny 'nano-capsules' of drugs that are triggered by the presence of bacteria and will treat the infection before it can take hold.
The bandage changes colour as the medication is triggered - alerting doctors and nurses there is infection in the wound.
Isambard Ebbutt was 13-months-old when he was severely burned after boiling tea fell on him. Children are particularly vulnerable to infection after severe burns
This is an important step in treating burns patients, particularly children, where infections can lead to toxic shock syndrome, a potentially fatal condition.
The dressing could be also used for treating burns, ulcers or soldiers injured in action.
Project leader Dr Toby Jenkins of Bath University said: 'If this was available right now it would be extremely useful for our soldiers in Afghanistan.
'Being injured in the desert or the battlefield makes them extremely prone to infection so such a dressing for their wounds would be a tremendous boon.
'Your skin is normally home to billions of 'friendly' bacteria which it needs to stay healthy.
'The dressing is only triggered by disease-causing bacteria which produce toxins that break open capsules containing the antibiotics and dye which makes it take on a green hue.
'This means antibiotics are only released when needed which reduces the risk of the evolution of new antibiotic-resistant super-bugs such as MRSA.
'We are making a prototype at the moment and hope we could start clinical testing in about three years.'
When the bacteria come into contact with the material it releases the antimicrobial dye which changes the dressing's colour
Case study: Baby scalded
In September 2008 baby Isambard Ebbutt pulled a boiling hot cup of tea over himself causing 32 per cent burns across his face and body.
Isambard, who was just 13-months-old, was rushed to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where he was treated by a team of experts at the South West Regional Paediatric Burns Service.
Luckily Isambard’s skin healed fully and he did not need skin grafts.
His family took Isambard home to Ellacombe, in Torquay, Devon, ten days after he was admitted.
Natalie Ebbutt, a mum of six, said: 'I thought he was going to die, I just wanted my baby to live so I wanted him to be in the best place.
'It is so poignant that a cup of tea can kill, but I don’t think that parents are aware of the damage that a cup of tea can do. I see adults walking around all the time with hot drinks near children.'
Although Isambard recovered well from his burn, many children can develop potentially fatal infections after they are injured.
The new dressing to be developed by the Bacteriosafe team will help prevent and treat infections before they take hold.
His international team of researchers has received 4.5 million Euros from the EC to create Bacteriosafe using nanotechnology - the science of inventing products at the sub-atomic level.
Dr Amber Young, a paediatric burn specialist at the South West UK Paediatric Burn Centre, based at Bristol’s Frenchay Hospital, will be the clinical consultant on the project.
She said: 'We’re really excited about this project – every day we see young children who are seriously ill from burns who would hugely benefit from this research.
'Many people don’t realise that a burn from a cup of tea can be deadly if it becomes infected.
'Conventional dressings have to be removed if the skin becomes infected, which slows healing and can be distressing for the child.
'This advanced dressing will speed up treatment because it is automatically triggered to release antibiotics only when the wound becomes infected, meaning that the dressing will not need to be removed, thereby increasing the chances of the wound healing without scarring.
'The colour change acts as an early warning system that infection is present, meaning we can treat it much faster, reducing the trauma to the child and cutting the time they have to spend in hospital.'
The researchers have already tested fabric in the lab coated with the nanocapsules which are just one millionth of a millimetre in size.
They have been shown to react specifically to harmful bacteria.
Over the next four years the European team will be working on integrating the colour change technology into a suitable dressing and looking at cost effective routes for industrial production.
The Bacteriosafe project includes chemists, cell biologists, clinicians and engineers.
They will not only develop the dressing, but will also work with industry on a pre-pilot scale manufacturing process.
The dressing they could be available on the market within a few years following the project's completion.
Dr Toby Jenkins deposits zinc and silver polymers to develop coatings that will kill superbugs such as MRSA
I too have used Tee Tree oil and it works wonders, and as Kiran, Swindon, has said, anything that speeds recovery can only be a good thing. Think of the poor nurses in hospitals who despair at the treatment of people in hospitals.
- Trevor Sewry, Llangatwg, Cymru,, 11/7/2010 10:25
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