Australian scientists have unveiled a breakthrough in wound care technology, developing a smart dressing capable of both monitoring wounds and delivering healing agents in real time. The innovation, created by researchers at RMIT University, could transform the treatment of chronic wounds, which place a heavy burden on healthcare systems worldwide.
Chronic wounds often require continuous and complex care, making them difficult and costly to manage. While smart dressings that either monitor infection or deliver therapeutic agents have been developed in recent years, combining both functions into a single, scalable product has remained a major challenge—until now.
The RMIT team has created a method of embedding tiny, multifunctional nanomaterials known as carbon dots into hydrogel dressings. These carbon-based nanoparticles are biocompatible and can both sense changes in a wound’s condition and act as therapeutic agents to promote healing.
The new smart wound patch changes colour when it detects a shift in pH levels—a common sign of infection. This colour change can be easily read by portable smart devices, allowing clinicians or patients to monitor wound health in real time. When infection is detected, the system automatically releases therapeutic nanozymes to combat inflammation and accelerate healing. The release can also be manually triggered by applying gentle pressure to the dressing, providing additional treatment when needed.
RMIT PhD candidate and study first author Nan Nan said the dual-function design could revolutionise chronic wound management by enabling earlier and more effective intervention.
“Being able to address potential infection at the earliest opportunity is critical to chronic wound management, making this real-time system a potential game-changer for healthcare,” Nan said.
She added that the team’s fabrication process simplifies what has traditionally been a complex challenge. “Our process uses medically ready materials, such as hydrogels, to embed carbon dots for wound dressing. It’s easy, scalable, and has strong potential for commercial translation.”
Senior Lecturer at RMIT’s School of Engineering, Dr Haiyan Li, said the innovation overcomes key barriers that have prevented many smart wound dressings from reaching the market.
“Many smart wound dressings developed in research laboratories are difficult to translate into real clinical products because they rely on complex designs or expensive sensing systems,” Dr Li said. “Our approach integrates sensing and dual-mode therapeutic functions into a single dressing with a simple, streamlined design, which helps address some of the key challenges that have previously limited commercial translation.”
Dr Li added that the research also establishes clear design principles for future smart dressings.
The next phase of the project will focus on validating the technology in advanced biological models and preparing it for clinical use. The team is seeking industry partners to help refine and scale up the technology for commercial production.
Study lead and Senior Lecturer at RMIT’s School of Engineering, Dr Lei Bao, said the ultimate goal is to integrate the smart dressing into a broader digital health ecosystem.
“Our next step is to evaluate how this technology performs in more advanced biological models and to work with industry partners to refine the design for real clinical use,” Dr Bao said. “Ultimately, our goal is to translate this research into practical smart wound dressings and integrate this smart platform into a digital health ecosystem, where data from the patch is collected, analysed, and used to drive clinical decisions to advance chronic wound management.”
The research was conducted using RMIT’s state-of-the-art Micro Nano Research Facility and Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility.
