Researchers come up with a smart bandage for advanced wound care

NIT Rourkela research team has come up with a smart wound dressing that prevents infections and reduces the pain during removal. It also promotes faster healing in case of injuries that require frequent changes in dressing.

Patients are normally known to experience inconvenience and discomfort due to factors like frequent dress changing and this innovative wound dressing developed by Prof. Prasoon Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, addresses this under-recognised challenge.

Affordability

Due to its affordability, absorbency, and ease of usage, cotton gauze bandage is most commonly used for wound dressing. It is widely used to absorb blood and wound exudates and ointment applications.

Conventional dressing

However, these conventional dressings are not capable of preventing infections or managing discomfort. Another limitation of the traditional cotton gauze is that it sticks to the wound surface and damages newly formed tissue when dressing is changed. Additionally, it also increases the susceptibility to infections.

Smart cotton gauze dressing

To address these limitations, NIT Rourkela researchers have developed a smart cotton gauze dressing that integrates chitosan-coated cotton gauze with an electrospun nanofibrous layer.

This layer is said to be filled with curcumin, a natural compound known for its antimicrobial properties. Placed between the wound and gauze, this layer minimises adhesive’s direct contact with the wound thereby reducing the risk of tissue damage during gauze removal, say NIT Rourkela researchers.

Medication release

Curcumin-filled nanofibers slowly release the medication onto the wound and maintain sustained drug delivery. This approach helps maintain a sterile wound environment while reducing dependence on repeated gauze changes and additional medications, say researchers from NIT Rourkela.

Wound adhesion

Prof. Prasoon Kumar spoke about the developed smart wound dressing. They found out in their tests in the laboratory that the developed dressing effectively reduces wound adhesion compared to commonly used cotton gauze dressings. 

The sustained release of cumin from the nanofibrous layer provides antibacterials protection and nanofibrous layer itself supports cellular growth and tissue regeneration., he said.

Key features

Key features of the developed dressing include:

· Less painful removal and reduced damage to newly formed tissue during repeated dressing changes

· Nanofibrous layer to support cellular growth and tissue regeneration

· Antibacterial protection through Sustained delivery of curcumin release

· Maintenance of a cleaner and infection-resistant wound environment

· Simple, scalable, and cost-effective fabrication methods

Cost effectiveness

Prof Kumar also spoke about the cost effectiveness of the developed wound dressing. 

He said that cotton gauze bandage roll (10 cm × 4 m) costs around Rs 30 and their advanced smart bandage of similar size will cost around Rs 50-60 when fabricated at a commercial scale.

Publishing

The findings of this research have been published in the prestigious Emergent Materials journal in a paper co-authored by Prof. Prasoon Kumar along with Prof. Devendra Verma, Associate Professor, Prof. Earu Banoth, Assistant Professor and research scholars Ms. Swagatika Barik, Ms. Rika Rani Pradhan, Ms. Shikha Tripathi, Ms. Samadrita Roy from the Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, NIT Rourkela.

Support and next step

Supported by the ANRF-PAIR Grant (Grant No. ANRF/PAIR/2025/000026/PAIR) and SERB-SRG Grant (Grant No. SRG/2021/000859), this research is a major step towards the development of advanced medical treatments.

As the next step, the research team plans to file a patent for the developed technology and explore potential industry collaboration opportunities for clinical trials.

Also read - Researchers study how global political conflicts and crude oil price fluctuations can influence stock markets