Complete dressing

An "intelligent bandage' that will administer antibiotics only when required has been developed by Japanese researchers. The bandage contains antibiotic molecules hooked up with a peptide attached to a polymer film. If the wound becomes infected, the organic tissue material around the injury decomposes releasing oxygen which reacts with the peptide, thereby triggering the release of antibiotic. Researchers at Kyoto University, the Nara Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Kuraray Company, Japan, have developed this bandage (New Scientist , Vol 157, No 2115).