Hand-Held Scanner Shows if a Wound is Infected

To treat a wound appropriately, you have to know whether it's infected. Delaying treatment of an infected wound can interfere with healing, while the unnecessary use of antibiotics can cause side effects and lead to drug resistance.But identifying infections promptly can be difficult. Current methods of wound assessment are either inaccurate, like inspecting the wound with the naked eye, or take days to complete, like sending swabs for further testing.A new device called the MolecuLight i:X shows the presence of bacteria in a wound in real time. Using fluorescence, the device quickly, safely and easily visualizes potentially harmful bacteria, allowing clinicians to choose the right therapy for their patients, according to the researchers.Read more at Bioenginnering Today: Digital Scanner Shows if a Wound is Infected.