Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison may have come up with a more effective bandage.
The bandage sends electrical currents created when your body moves to a wounded area. The electric pulses help your skin heal.
When tested in rats, researchers found the bandage took healing time down from two weeks to three days.
“We expected there to be some affects, but we didn't expect it that fast,” said Xudong Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison.
Wang and his team will now test the bandage on larger animals like pigs before working with UW Hospital to try it on humans.
“Our goal is to make it just more or less like a regular bandage,” Wang said.
Wang said the pulses won't harm healthy cells and the low-intensity current acts a lot like your body already functions.
The bandage could also help people with chronic wounds — like diabetic people — or burn victims.
“We think that our technology may be helpful to facilitate recovery or make recovery even better,” Wang said.