IIT Roorkee's Battery-Free Smart Bandage Heals Wounds With Body Movement

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, working with the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) in Mohali, have developed a smart electronic bandage that generates its own electrical signals from the body's natural movements, without batteries, wires or any external power source. The technology, named 3D-MIDAS, is described in the journal Nano Energy.

A wound disrupts the skin's natural electrical signaling system, which can hinder cellular repair. 3D-MIDAS was designed to address this: made from a flexible, highly stretchable scaffold that can extend to about 800% of its original length, it converts the mechanical energy of body movements and stretching into electrical stimulation for the wound. It also allows airflow and manages wound exudate, the fluid a wound discharges as it heals.

In laboratory tests, the bandage produced about three times greater cell proliferation and 2.5 times greater cell migration compared with untreated conditions. In animal studies, 90-95% of the wound area closed within 13 to 15 days, with improvements also seen in new blood vessel formation and collagen deposition. Tests on freely moving mice showed the bandage generated a continuous electrical output during normal movement, without any external mechanical stimulation, and performance stayed stable over 500 stretching cycles and up to three months.

IIT Roorkee director Professor K.K. Pant described the work as an effort to solve a major healthcare challenge through advanced materials and interdisciplinary research. Principal investigator Professor Kaushik Parida said the technology aims to overcome the limitations of existing electrical wound-healing systems that depend on external power sources. The researchers said clinical trials will be needed before the bandage can be used on humans, and that it could eventually prove useful for remote healthcare, emergencies and other challenging environments.