A.J. Bandodkar
North Carolina State University,
United States
Keywords: wound monitoring, regenerative technologies, AI-enabled sensing
Summary:
Chronic wounds are characterized by impaired healing and affect millions globally. These wounds result from a variety of factors, including pressure ulcers, venous and arterial insufficiencies, peripheral neuropathy, diabetes mellitus, and surgical complications. Present wound assessment and treatment strategies are expensive and ineffective. For example, widely used visual wound assessment methods lack diagnostic rigor. Wound biopsies address this issue but are expensive, time consuming, and invasive. Similarly, on the treatment side, current FDA-approved products are expensive, have short shelf-life, and show poor efficacy. In this talk I will discuss my group’s approaches to address these key issues using innovative concepts that combine enzymatic biofuel cells, water-powered batteries, wireless electronics, and machine learning for developing new classes of rugged smart dressings designed for limited resource settings for rapid prognosis and treatment of chronic wounds. I will provide in vitro and in vivo (diabetic mice) results demonstrating the practicality of these smart dressings.