A team of engineers from the Universities of Glasgow and Southampton has been awarded the IET’s Excellence and Innovation Award for developing wireless therapeutics.
Their innovation targets non-healing wounds with a antibiotics-free solution delivered through a wireless smart bandage. The same technology was then adapted for an implant for bladder cancer treatment.
The research, led by Dr Mahmoud Wagih of the James Watt School of Engineering, focused on wireless-powered, battery-free devices that deliver treatment through light. Using ultraviolet type-C (UV-C) LEDs, a smart fabric bandage could prevent bacterial growth in non-healing wounds.
The drug-free anti-bacterial wireless bandage prototype illuminating a petri dish inhibiting bacterial growth; a control sample is seen in the background.
Lab tests of the technology found the smart bandage could slow and stop the growth of the bacteria pseudoalteromonas sp. D41 on the surfaces of slides, eradicating the bacteria within six hours, suggesting similar outcomes for patients with non-healing wounds.
The team then developed an implantable prototype which uses visible light to release single-oxygen molecules for targeted drug delivery to kill bladder cancer tumour cells.
Dr Wagih said: “Wireless power delivery could enable new wearable and implantable therapeutics, from sterilising non-healing wounds to drug delivery for cancer treatment; I am really pleased to see our work recognised by this prestigious award.”
“We are continuing to work together to bring these wearable and implantable therapeutics closer to animal trials, proving its efficacy. We are also exploring how they can be both sustainable and economical”.
Professor Steve Beeby, RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies at the University of Southampton, leads the work on medical electronic textiles. He said: “The e-textile bandage approach could provide a significant benefit to the treatment of persistent wounds and is a major advance over typical smart bandages that attempt to monitor wound condition; it’s a great outcome for this technology to be recognised.”
The wireless implantable drug delivery probe for bladder cancer photodynamic treatment.
Professor David Flynn of the James Watt School of Engineering, who leads the PATIENT project focused on implantable photodynamic therapy, said: “We aim to create a ground-breaking treatment in response to the unmet clinical need of bladder cancer through a world-first in photodynamic therapy from an implantable wireless medical microsystem; the early results are very promising.”
The team received the first prize for healthcare technologies in the IET Excellence and Innovation Awards, winning against dozens of other nominations. The awards recognise ground-breaking innovation best practices and teams in engineering, science, and technology.
Dr Mahmoud Wagih (left) and Mr Nikolas Bruce (right), from the James Watt School of Engineering, at the award ceremony.