New fetal skin-inspired bandage capable of treating any wound

In a new approach and what’s believed to be the first of its kind, researchers have created a new type of bandage inspired from fetal skin that can quickly heal all type of wounds.

Inspired from fetal skin, team of international researchers claimed to have develop an innovate kind of gel-based, heat-activated dressing that can heal all sorts of wounds by contracting just like it’s done when we’re in the womb.

The fetal skin can entirely be regenerated itself when it’s injured that too without scarring. The embryonic cells produce protein fibers that rapidly and tightly close up and contract the skin surrounding a womb. As adults, our skin cells can do the same thing to some extent but nowhere to before, explained Gizmodo.

New self-powered electric bandages could speed up wound healing

The scientists figured out a way to make the skin back to its younger self in terms of healing. Dubbed the active adhesive dressings, they are made of ‘thermoresponsive tough adhesive hydrogels that combine high stretchability, toughness, tissue adhesion, and antimicrobial function’.

The advanced adhesive material is much stickier than normal wound dressings and is activated when exposed to body heat. It also contains silver nanoparticles that consist of antimicrobial traits in order to boost healing.

During tests on pig and mouse skin, the dressings closed up wounds much quicker than conventional bandages and also lessened the time required to heal. No inflammation or immune system response, suggesting their safety on living tissue. In a computer model developed, the dressings were projected to have a similar wound-closing effect on human skin too as they did on mice.

Moreover, the team hopes that apart from these dressings being used for nasty cuts and scrapes, they can also be used on difficult-to-treat skin injuries like ulcers, meanwhile, the design too could be tailored for other medical purposes.

“This technology has the potential to be used not only for skin injuries, but also for chronic wounds like diabetic ulcers and pressure sores, for drug delivery, and as components of soft robotics-based therapies,” said study author David Mooney.

For future, the authors said that they intend to study if the bandages can work as well under various medical scenarios and conditions, like colder weather that can affect the skin’s temperature.