Smart Dressings for Wound Healing: A Review.

OBJECTIVE

To provide an overview of sensors incorporated into wound dressings that can be used to assess and manage healing parameters.

DATA SOURCES: Authors conducted an extensive literature search of the Science Direct, Scopus, MEDLINE-PubMed, and Web of Science databases.

STUDY SELECTION: A total of 587 studies that evaluated dressings used to manage wound healing parameters were identified in the search, but only 16 met all of the review criteria and were included in the final analysis.

DATA EXTRACTION: Chronic wounds were the most common type of injury among studies. Six articles involved a wireless transmission system.

DATA SYNTHESIS: All studies evaluated the physical and chemical characteristics of the dressings.

CONCLUSIONS

This review demonstrates the lack of studies examining wound dressing sensors. New studies are required to assess sensors that allow not only wound monitoring, but also the application of drugs in a single dressing, providing a better and more cost-effective treatment for wounds.