Scientists have demonstrated blue light’s anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory effects and they turned it into a flexible bandage to heal wounds. MEDILIGHT, a European research project which aims to develop smart and wearable medical devices, have presented a prototype of the LED embedded light solution for treating chronic wounds.

Within the framework of the European project MEDILIGHT, seven partners including research teams from Germany France, Switzerland, Cyprus, the UK and Czech, were coordinated by the Technical University of Berlin (TUB). The project has developed a portable device which uses blue light to improve and accelerate the healing process. The prototype was presented in 2018 at the URGO laboratories in Dijon.

 

(Image: MEDILIGHT)

According to MEDILIGHT, blue light illumination can offer much more than just antibacterial effects. The anti-proliferative functionality has been clearly proven, showing that blue light prevents an overshooting epimerization in premature healing stages. The consortium further showed that blue light can efficiently activate key cutaneous cells with another appropriate light dose and thereby accelerate the final wound-healing process.

With the prototype of the LED-based smart wearable system, the research team believes that it further paves the way for the potential future commercialization of devices based on light therapy for monitoring wound healing.

“With the discovery and demonstration of the efficacy of blue light in both antibacterial functions and the activation of key cutaneous cells, MEDILIGHT has allowed URGO to file two fundamental patents,” explains Marielle Bouschbacher, the project’s responsible at URGO. “MEDILIGHT also opens the way for other important application opportunities that will address unmet needs, such as the disinfection of medical instruments and operating environments.” It is important to note that MEDILIGHT was initially a human adventure. Several teams, several countries, and several skill-sets have joined forces to achieve a single goal: to create innovative healthcare solutions for tomorrow.