A team of Swiss researchers from the Technology in Textiles project are reportedly working on a new type of wound dressing, which they claim can monitor the state of a wound through the use of fiber optic threads that have been woven into the dressing. The fibers have been designed in such a way that they change color in response to changes in the acidity of the wound, which is an indicator of its healing status.
With this advancement in technology, it is hoped that this would reduce, or possibly even replace the need for swabs and laboratory testing. As it stands, the team is currently working on calibrating the light signal through a range of acidity levels and hopes that this will provide a powerful new resource for the treatment of wounds such as diabetic, pressure and venous leg ulcers in the future, which tend to prove rather difficult during the healing process.