Introduction – Stitching up of a gash or other cut by a doctor usually gets a bandage but the covering restricts the view of the wound as it cures up. The person covered with wound may suffer some kind of infection and the problem may not signal when the treatment is needed. Recently with innovation researchers have developed “smart” stitches that can alert carer when the problem emerged. May be future such wound will be able to deliver drugs to cure the stitched –up wound to heal.
Structure – The structure of suture is like a thread, pretty low tech and in most cases made of natural materials like cotton or silk, other than that made from plastic. Few are made like they can get dissolved in the body, it doesn’t matter from what they are made of their purpose is same. But sometimes these wound don’t heal properly rather the tissues swell and bulge causing the stitches to secure.
Effects – such sutures cause ugly scar or get infected that further results in redness of tissue and heating up. There may be no pain but beneath the bandage there may be some infection building up. Researchers working in this project found out a way to transform stitches into sensors. This technological sensor will report what’s going on beneath a bandage along with sending out health condition from inside the body.
Method – Usage of smart suture means permitting it to conduct electricity because a thread cannot do that all by self. So, the researchers used the thread and coated it with conducting material. The ability of smart sutures is to sense the stretching tissue indicating swelling and in other cases it can calculate pH, or acidity of the tissue passing through. Every factor of telling whether there is some infection or not is being covered by researchers like calculating body temperature, detecting when wound warms, and signalling brewing infection.
Slight change in one factor can affect electrical resistance of the suture which can be monitored from the watch like device. The device is portable and can send data whatever learned from wound to a nearby smartphone or computer for recording and analysis. They found an interesting way to embed sensors directly into patients’ skin displaying accurate data like fitness trackers.
Conclusion – For other purposes also this device can be used like monitoring blood proteins with healing level, blood sugar level for diabetic people etc. additional advantages of the suture’s capillary action, with the ability to absorb fluid from one place to another for wound healing.
