Colour-changing wound dressing detects infection, helps fight antibiotic resistance [Video]

A “smart” medical dressing that changes colour when it detects infection has been developed by a team of scientists. It reduces the unnecessary use of antibiotics and helps address the global problem of antibiotic resistance.

Researchers from the University of Bath in the UK have developed a prototype dressing that will change colour as soon as a burn wound is infected. According to the team, this will enable doctors to quickly identify patients with an infection and prevent them from giving antibiotics to those who don’t need them.

Because of their immature immune systems, children suffering from burn wounds are particularly susceptible to bacterial infections, which could lead to longer hospital stays, increased risk of permanent scarring and in severe cases, even sepsis.

Currently, it takes at least 48 hours for doctors to diagnose infections and more time to remove the wound dressing, which could be painful and distressing for the patient. Due to this time delay, children who show symptoms of possible infection are treated with antibiotics as a precaution before their infection is confirmed. However, administering the treatment when there is no infection can lead to the bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Being able to detect infection quickly and accurately with the newly developed wound dressing will make a real difference to the lives of children as it allows doctors to provide the right care at the right time, the team said.

The medical dressing works by releasing fluorescent dye from nanocapsules triggered by the toxins secreted by disease-causing bacteria within the wound, according to Dr Toby Jenkins, who leads the project.

“The nanocapsules mimic skin cells in that they only break open when toxic bacteria are present; they aren’t affected by the harmless bacteria that normally live on healthy skin. Using this dressing will allow clinicians to quickly identify infections without removing it, meaning that patients can be diagnosed and treated faster. It could really help to save lives,” Jenkins explained.

To test how well the new dressing detects infection in samples from real patients, the team will be taking wound swabs and blister fluid from young burns patients and linking them to patients’ symptoms. Once the dressing has been proven to effectively detect infection in swab samples from patients, the researchers plan to work with healthcare company Hartmann to develop the dressing for use in hospitals in around four years.

The University of Bath team, which has partnered with the Healing Foundation Children’s Burns Research Centre and the University of Brighton for the project, has been awarded almost £1 million (AU$ 2.14 million) by the Medical Research Council, through the Biomedical Catalyst funding stream, to test the responsiveness of the prototype dressing to samples taken from the wounds of burns victims.