Active Wireless Wound Dressings integrating Graphene for wound Healing Monitoring and Infection Detection – PADISC

The market of “smart dressing” is still in its infancy, but is expected to rise quickly following the trend of personalized regenerative medicine, connected wearables and embedded devices for remote patient monitoring.

The main objective of PADISC project is to seize this market trend by taking advantage of translational research to design a highly innovative scaffold enabling in-situ diagnostic for tissue regeneration and repair. It will be based on a multifaceted nano(bio)material, graphene, with integrated sensors to monitor and ultimately improve management and outcome of wound healing.

This will be possible through the use of a graphene-based bandage with integrated pH and temperature sensors to record the wound state.
In addition, the PADISC bandage will have biosensors integrated which will allow following the wound healing state by measuring locally the metalloproteinases levels. Bacteria sensing of wound pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa will give an alarming signal in case of wound infection. Such a multileveled wound bandage with optimum oxygen and water permeability due to porous graphene-based bandages will allow tuning the tissue regeneration of the graphene-based bandage into a point-of-care wound bandage. The presence of wound healing sensors as integral part in advanced wound management will not only have a positive effect on patients but will also reduce health costs related to rehabilitation time.
It will provide a “hospital at home” solution to monitor continuously healing progress and provide an early alert in case of infection. The presence of wireless data transmission elements to the treating personal (nurse, clinician, etc.) will then provide an adequate follow up of the wound closer by health professionals without the need to go to the hospital.

The PADISC project is composed of four partners (one company located in Grenoble, Spin-off of CNRS Grapheal, 2 research laboratories in Grenoble (LETI-CEA) and Lille (IEMN-University of Lille/CNRS and the CHU Grenoble-University. Grenoble Alpes) ) to profit from synergies on the technological related aspects and to cover the whole range of competences from fundamental research on graphene nanotechnology, device fabrication, biosensor technology, wireless electronics and integration in telemedicine (digital technologies integration) to wound care and to pre-clinical/clinical testing to industrialization.
The idea to develop a graphene based multilevel bandage at the French level is pulled by the large interest research and more lately by industry devoted to graphene, considered one of the wonder materials of the 21th century. The implementation of this original smart bandage is believed to shift the field of advanced wound bandages for complex wounds such (as diabetic foot ulcers) to a more efficient level with overcall reduced costs.

Currently, the standard care for wounds involves applying dressings that protect against external aggressions, accelerate the regeneration of tissues at the wound level and aim to prevent and, if possible, infections. This calls, however, for regular replacement as well as constant monitoring from a healthcare professional to ensure the right healing of the wound. Tissue regeneration via the novel nanomaterial-based bandage with integrate sensors as proposed in this project, will overcome these current limitations.