'Smart' Bandages Will Track Your Health in Real Time

Recent experiments and tests conducted by Swansea University will likely allow doctors to begin testing ‘smart’ bandages within the next 12 months, according to the BBC. Marc Clement, chairman of Swansea University’s Institute of Life Science, says the bandages will use 5G technology and doctors can monitor the condition of the wound in real time.

The bandages will also include nano-sized sensors that will help doctors develop specific treatment for individuals. “Traditional medicine may be where a clinician might see a patient and then prescribe the treatment approach for one to three months,” Clement said. “What the future holds is a world where there’s the ability to vary the treatment to the individual, the lifestyle and the pattern of life.”

The treatment can be changed due to someone’s location, how active they are and what sort of lifestyle they live.

The Swansea Bay City Deal, which was recently approved, includes plans to build a 5G test hub that will allow for further testing to be done on the bandages before they are officially put to use.

The nano-sensors within the bandages will be built by nanotechnology and the bandages will be created by 3D printers. The cost to build the bandages will be fairly low do to the use of the 3D printers and new 5G lab.

More than a million people are available to conduct the preliminary tests on at the nearby Welsh Wound Innovation Centre.

While this project will likely experience interruptions and delays due to the complicated technology required to fully develop it, it could open doors to a vast array of medical discoveries. The ability for doctors to have constant real-time updates from their patients could speed up recovery times and diminish the number of doctor appointments.