Heriot-Watt University develops 'listening' sensors for wounds

Engineers at Heriot-Watt University are developing a sensor that will help patients, doctors and nurses manage how wounds heal. 

BBC News reports the sensors being developed by the team means wounds can be listened to.

Dr Michael Crichton, a biomedical engineer at Heriot-Watt University, has been awarded £360,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to develop a microsensor that will detect wound healing by monitoring the tiny, microscale mechanical changes that happen to the body’s tissue. 

It's thought any findings could be applied to other tissues, to monitor organ damage or cancers.

He said: “We want to understand what actually happens in a wound. Lots of research has looked at the biological properties of wounds, but we know very little about the mechanics of how wounds heal, especially at the microscale, which is where changes are happening at sub-hair width scales. 

“We’re working to create a small sensor that can be embedded in a bandage to measure changes in a wound’s properties without interfering with the process. 

“The sensor will make small mechanical measurements - much like how a doctor would prod a lump - and will tell us how the tissue is changing, or whether the wound needs a different dressing or treatment.

“Our smart sensor will alert the patient and their care team when intervention is needed to make sure the wound heals better, or when it is all progressing nicely under the bandage.”

Crichton is working with Dr Jenna Cash, a specialist in wound healing immunology from the University of Edinburgh, on the two-year project. 

Dr Cash said: “This is an innovative, patient-focused research project that addresses the urgent need for us to better understand wounds.  

“Our work on the immunological response during healing is reflected in mechanical changes, and anything that combines these has the potential for new therapies in this area.”