N Sharma, A.J. Bandodkar
North Carolina State University,
United States
Keywords: wearable, chemical sensors, wound care
Summary:
Abstract: Every day, millions of individuals rely on medical devices that remain in contact with the skin for extended periods, including wound dressings and compression wraps, as well as prosthetic sockets and monitoring equipment. These devices exert sustained mechanical pressure on the underlying tissue. In the United States alone, an estimated 1–3 million people develop pressure-related skin injuries annually, with mortality rates reaching up to 9.1%. Prevalence varies by care setting; 5–15% in hospitalized patients and substantially higher rates among long-term care residents and post-operative amputees. These injuries impose a serious health burden, particularly in individuals with immobility, diabetes, vascular insufficiency, malnutrition, or age-related skin fragility, ultimately reducing quality of life. Despite well-established pathophysiology, clinical diagnosis still relies on subjective inspection and late-stage visual cues, which are unreliable and lack diagnostic rigor. Existing detection devices attempt to address this issue, but largely overlook how the skin biochemically responds to sustained mechanical loading. Consequently, a quantitative understanding of how skin reacts physiologically to sustained external pressure remains limited. In my talk, I will discuss a unique class of chemical sensors designed to overcome these key challenges by capturing the biochemical signatures of early tissue compromise. Specifically, I will describe how we are using wearable microfluidics technology to detect and prevent skin injuries in at-risk populations.