Wound management is a major global challenge and poses a significant financial burden to the healthcare system due to the rapid growth of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and aging population. The ability to detect pathogenic infections and release drug at the wound site is of the utmost importance to expedient patient care. Herein, this study presents an advanced multifunctional dressing (GelDerm) capable of colorimetric measurement of pH, an indicator of bacterial infection, and release of antibiotic agents at the wound site. This study demonstrates the ability of GelDerm to detect bacterial infections using in vitro and ex vivo tests with accuracies comparable to the commercially available systems. Wireless interfaces to digital image capture hardware such as smartphones serve as a means for quantitation and enable the patient to record the wound condition at home and relay the information to the healthcare personnel for following treatment strategies. Additionally, the dressing is integrated within commercially available patches and can be placed on the wound without chemical or physical irritation. This study demonstrates the ability of GelDerm to eradicate bacteria by the sustained release of antibiotics. The proposed technology holds great promise in managing chronic and acute injuries caused by trauma, surgery, or diabetes.

中文翻译：

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用于伤口监测和药物输送的先进多功能水凝胶敷料

伤口管理是一项重大的全球挑战，由于糖尿病、肥胖和人口老龄化等慢性病的快速增长，给医疗保健系统带来了巨大的经济负担。检测病原体感染并在伤口部位释放药物的能力对于方便的患者护理至关重要。在此，这项研究提出了一种先进的多功能敷料 (GelDerm)，能够比色测量 pH 值（细菌感染的指标），并在伤口部位释放抗生素。这项研究证明了 GelDerm 使用体外和离体测试检测细菌感染的能力，其准确性与市售系统相当。与智能手机等数字图像捕获硬件的无线接口可作为定量手段，使患者能够在家中记录伤口状况并将信息转发给医护人员以制定后续治疗策略。此外，该敷料集成在市售贴片中，可以放置在伤口上而不会产生化学或物理刺激。这项研究证明了 GelDerm 通过持续释放抗生素来消灭细菌的能力。所提出的技术在治疗由外伤、手术或糖尿病引起的慢性和急性损伤方面具有广阔的前景。