A common method to treat wounds is to apply ointments and other treatments, then covering it with a bandage to protect the wound from outside elements that may promote further infection. This, however, presents a challenge to anyone who wishes to check up on the wound afterwards: in order to view the state of the wound (say, to determine how fast it’s healing, or if it’s healing at all), you need to open the bandage; but in doing so, you also enable infections to set in, as the wound is now exposed, even if just for a short time.
Scientists from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University in Australia seem to have found a solution to the odd paradox, employing the use of magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) nanosheets. The nanosheets, in turn, are embedded into the fibers of what would otherwise be a standard cotton bandage. See, Mg(OH)2 is known for its biocompatibility and its antimicrobial properties. This makes it a pretty good candidate for infusion into common bandage material.
What makes the finding stand out, however, is the fact that Mg(OH)2 is also known to exhibit fluorescence under UV light. This is what makes the novel bandage unique: without opening the bandage, you can check for the status of the wound by simply just shining a light through it. It should be noted, however, that the technology is targeted towards chronic wounds that need treatment, like ulcers and similar ailments. As mentioned before, the presence of the hydroxide also serves as an antibacterial component, preventing further infection.
Additionally, the presence of infections on a wound is known to change its pH, from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline. In this shift, the fluorescence of the hydroxide inside the novel bandage also changes, causing it to light up even more; therefore, when shining UV light onto patients with these bandages, not only do you get to see how the wound is healing—you also get to see whether or not the wound has any further infections developing, all without ever removing the bandage. The novel bandage was also determined to last up to seven days, according to the authors; this, they say, beats the standard antibacterial effect duration of standard wound dressings, which last up to a few days at most.
The production process for these new material for bandages are commercially viable, according to lead author Dr. Vi Khanh Truong. Competing research into antibacterial technologies in bandages also commonly make use of silver nanoparticles; in employing these hydroxides, instead, the technology is said to be “up to 20 times cheaper.”
This study was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Bibliography
- Coxworth, B. (2021, August 27). Glowing antibacterial bandage sheds light on infected wounds. New Atlas. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://newatlas.com/medical/glowing-bandage-magnesium-hydroxide/
- Truskewycz, A., Truong, V. K., Ball, A. S., Houshyar, S., Nassar, N., Yin, H., Murdoch, B. J., & Cole, I. (2021). Fluorescent magnesium hydroxide nanosheet bandages with tailored properties for biocompatible antimicrobial wound dressings and ph monitoring. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13(24), 27904–27919. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c05908
