By Ellie Gabel, Associate Editor, Revolutionized
LinkedIn: Elle Rose
LinkedIn: Revolutionized
Even as industry professionals have infused digital functionality into countless medical devices, the bandage has remained virtually unchanged. Thanks to AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), it is finally entering the 21st century. With the smart bandage, physicians can continuously monitor wounds to identify complications early. Until now, technology has been too bulky and inefficient to make remote monitoring practical at this scale. While this invention has the potential to transform modern medicine, it may also place a burden on electronic health record (EHR) systems.
Smart Bandages as the Future of Wound Care
Researchers from the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Stanford School of Engineering developed a wireless, flexible bandage with integrated sensors and stimulators. This proof-of-concept demonstrated that physicians can cost-effectively monitor and even accelerate wound recovery.
Surgeon, biomedical engineering professor and Department of Surgery chair at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Geoffrey Gurtner, developed the smart bandage in 2023. In 2025, it advanced to human clinical trials.
Dr. Gurtner states that his colleagues have progressed beyond the prototype stage and enrolled 83 individuals in a trial to determine how the technology correlates with various clinical outcomes. The participants visit the office weekly for in-person sensor readings. The team collects data once every 168 hours and has already uncovered trends indicating infections or deterioration before clinical diagnosis.
This technology is likely the future of wound care. Say a person receives a puncture wound or undergoes a finger amputation. An IoT-powered bandage could identify the early signs of complications by reporting if they develop a fever, swelling or low blood oxygenation. For example, it can detect nitric oxide, a marker of inflammation.
How the Technology Impacts Health Care
The smart bandage could transform health care by delivering actionable insights to providers. If they can determine how a person is healing by looking at their EHR, they can improve patient outcomes. There’s no longer any need for tedious testing and unnecessary checkups.
How Do Smart Bandages Work?
The University of Arizona’s invention isn’t the only one of its kind. Several research groups are developing similar technologies. For instance, in 2023, Wei Gao, a professor of medical engineering at Caltech, and his colleagues created a smart bandage with nanoengineered microfluidic components that eliminate excess moisture from wounds while collecting biomarker data.
So far, most published prototypes have the same core function. They use an IoT sensor array to collect protected health information (PHI) in real time. While the University of Arizona’s device comprises a sensor, circuit board and traditional bandage, Caltech’s invention uses a flexible, biocompatible polymer strip integrated with microfluidic modules and a reusable circuit board.
The circuit board facilitates signal processing and wireless data transmission, enabling researchers to send sensor-generated PHI to a centralized user interface, such as an EHR. While the data collection components are the most critical features, the choice of material and adhesive is also significant.
How Do Smart Bandages Benefit Patients?
Built-in wireless sensors help physicians track healing progress in real time. With Dr. Gurtner’s invention, electrical stimulation facilitates increased blood flow to close wounds more quickly and reduce scar formation. In the 2023 study, the treatment group healed around 25% faster, with a 50% improvement in dermal remodeling, compared to the control group.
While researchers conducted the study on mouse models, the results from the human trial look equally promising so far. Improving patient outcomes benefits individuals and hospitals. The advantages will become more prominent as professionals move from prototyping to refining the final design.
The benefits of these sensing capabilities are twofold. Given that moisture, heat and mechanical stress can substantially impact adhesive performance, real-time condition insights are valuable. Sensors designed to monitor patient health can inform product prototyping, helping medical equipment suppliers enhance adhesion strength and extend service life.
Early drafts of the sensor and circuit board system are highly visible. However, making the device small and inconspicuous so it’s easier to leave on and wear out will be a top priority once researchers establish its safety and efficacy in human trials.
Are EHRs Prepared to Handle the New Data?
EHRs are ubiquitous in health care. Despite their prevalence, they are plagued by usability issues. Physicians spend hours on data entry and management. Can they control the data generated by smart bandages, or will it be too much for EHR systems to handle?
In Dr. Gurtner’s case, AI is necessary for information processing. Tracking the temperature, pH, humidity, impedance and hemoglobin oxygenation data generated by the sensors seems simple enough. However, continuous monitoring can generate terabytes or petabytes of PHI on a weekly basis.
The consequences of information overload are significant. Research indicates that it can lead to higher error rates, which can adversely affect patient outcomes. However, no standardized processes exist yet to mitigate these errors.
By increasing the database’s size exponentially with real-time monitoring at scale, hospitals risk worsening patient outcomes — the opposite of what the smart bandage is supposed to do. Are providers asking too much of their EHR or does the issue lie with them? An inefficient workflow that relies on manual PHI entry is a holdover from the traditional manual process.
What to Do When EHRs Contain Too Much Data
On-premise systems store data on local servers, while cloud deployments use off-site storage. Scaling with the cloud is easier since organizations can purchase more space as needed. However, watching operational costs increase exponentially as the database expands unchecked is not a strategic approach.
EHRs already handle a massive amount of PHI. Health care contains an estimated 30% of all information that humans generate annually. Each patient produces approximately 80 megabytes of data yearly. Once smart bandages replace gauze pads and rolls, hospitals will have to manage even more information.
Until a better system is developed, AI can help medical professionals navigate information overload. A single model can rapidly process terabytes of sensor-generated PHI, eliminating the need for human oversight during data entry and analysis.
Large language models can filter and categorize reports, allowing clinicians to see only pertinent, actionable information. They can use plain language to request a summary or ask clarifying questions, minimizing their extraneous load.
Overcoming Data-Related Usability Challenges
While smart bandage technology could be revolutionary, medical professionals must first determine how to integrate it into their existing workflows. Preparation is crucial for avoiding information overload in EHR systems. AI may be able to ease their burden, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Therefore, facility-specific interventions are necessary.