---
title: "Smart Bandage Detects Infections, Auto-Releases Antibiotic"
description: "Researchers have created a color-changing smart bandage that can both detect bacteria in wounds and also release drugs to kill it."
date: "2020-01-31"
modified: "2020-01-31"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/smart-bandage-detects-infections-auto-releases-antibiotic"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "health"
  - "smart bandage"
---

# Smart Bandage Detects Infections, Auto-Releases Antibiotic

![Researchers have created color-changing bandages that can both detect bacteria in wounds and also release drugs to kill it.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/color-changing-bandages-detect-drug-resistant-bacteria.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

A colorful [new weapon](<https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/acs-cbs012420.php>) has emerged in the war on [antibiotic resistance](<https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance>).

On Wednesday, researchers in China published a [study](<https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscentsci.9b01104>) in the journal *ACS Central Science* detailing their creation of a new kind of smart bandage. At first, when you apply it to a wound, the bandage is green. But if it detects a bacterial infection, the bandage turns yellow — and releases a built-in antibiotic to treat the infection.

And if the bandage senses the presence of drug-resistant bacteria — the kind that traditional antibiotics alone can have trouble killing — it releases the antibiotic and turns red. As that point, doctors can shine a light on the bandage, which causes the material to release [special molecules](<https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/reactive-oxygen-species>) that can kill the bacteria or at least weaken it enough to improve the efficacy of the antibiotic.

When the team tested the smart bandage on mice, it improved the healing times for wounds containing either drug-sensitive or drug-resistant E. coli bacteria.

Because the bandages themselves can detect and treat the bacteria, they can dramatically cut the time between when an infection forms and when treatment begins. The added capability to know when the bacteria is drug-resistant could make the bandages even more helpful, given that the rise in antibiotic resistance is a full-on [global health crisis](<https://futurism.com/un-classifies-antibiotic-resistance-as-a-crisis-putting-it-on-par-with-ebola-and-hiv.md>) in need of [creative solutions](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/researchers-repurposed-crispr-better-antibiotics.md>).

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)

## More

- [Harvard’s Futuristic “Intelligent Bandages” Can Repair Your Body](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/harvards-futuristic-intelligent-bandages-can-repair-your-body.md>)
- [Antibiotic Apocalypse: Bacterial Resistance to Last-Resort Antibiotic Is Emerging](<https://futurism.com/bacterial-resistance-to-last-resort-antibiotic.md>)
- [Regenerative Bandage Heals Wounds 4x Faster](<https://futurism.com/regenerative-bandage-heals-wounds-4x-faster-than-a-standard-bandage.md>)
- [UN Classifies Antibiotic Resistance as a Crisis, Putting It on Par With Ebola and HIV](<https://futurism.com/un-classifies-antibiotic-resistance-as-a-crisis-putting-it-on-par-with-ebola-and-hiv.md>)
- [An Ancient Antibacterial Technique Might Hold the Key to Future Wound Treatment](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/oregon-blue-clay-antibacterial.md>)
- [A Synthetic Microbe Could Be the Next Antibiotic](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/synthetic-microbe-next-antibiotic.md>)
- [A World Without Antibiotics? The UN Has Elevated the Issue of Antibiotic Resistance](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/a-world-without-antibiotics-the-un-has-elevated-the-issue-of-antibiotic-resistance.md>)
- [Repurposed Wasp Venom Could Lead to New Antibiotic Drugs](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/wasp-venom-lead-new-antibiotic-drug.md>)