Home-based diagnostic dressing for automatic detection of infected chronic wounds in elderly patients

Singapore has one of the most rapidly aging population in the world. Infection of chronic skin wounds presents a significant healthcare, societal and economic burden to our elderly population.

Currently, diagnosis of wound infection requires visual observation by clinicians and specialized lab-based bacterial culture of wound samples. If left untreated due to delayed diagnosis, infected wounds may result in severe consequences such as life-threatening infection or limp amputation. Alternative home-based wound diagnostics, which enable timely diagnosis of wound infection, are needed to improve the management of infected wounds, particularly for aging adults who live alone and are not constantly monitored by healthcare professionals.

To address this unmet need, we propose to develop a cost-effective, user-friendly polymeric wound dressing integrated with a diagnostic platform for automatic home-based detection of bacterial infection by the patients themselves or their primary caregivers.

Based on the understanding that protease activity is elevated in infected chronic wounds, we design a polymeric wound dressing integrated with an antibody-based detection platform which generates visible color change upon exposure to increased protease concentration in the infected wounds.

In the long-term, our technology platform is expected to contribute towards improving the management of chronic wounds to minimize severe complications due to delayed diagnosis of infection and thereby reduce the personal, societal and economic burden associated with such complications.