After surgeons sew up tissue after surgery, they want to monitor in case of infection or strain. One future possibility for doing that: “smart thread” that broadcasts data from deep in the wound.
Over the last 18 months, Tufts University engineers have been developing a toolkit of threads coated with different chemicals. They can measure pH, resistance and glucose, indicating the health of the post-surgery area. The threads generate electrical outputs that are sent out through a wire to a device on the skin outside the body. From there, they can be interpreted on a cellphone.
