Future technology

Intelligent dressings

Nothing sticks to the petals of the lotus flower. What if we could make windows that never get dirty, using nanotechnology to create a coating with the same properties?

Or would you like to have a new type of Velcro that enables you to climb up a vertical wall, because nanotechnology has copied the capabilities of the gecko?

Researcher Per Hasvold at the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine sees great potential for introducing nanotechnology in the public health service in the future as well.

Dressings that dose medications

The public health service is facing major challenges. More and more people are affected by "lifestyle diseases" such as diabetes and overweight. In addition, the average age of the population is increasing.

This means that there will be fewer health workers to take care of you and me – and we will have a growing need for medical help.

One example of how we can reduce this problem with nanotechnology could be to create dressings with a surface that cleanses wounds and protects against infection – without the use of antibiotics.

Or perhaps the dressing could act as a miniature medicine store, which doses medications directly into the wound? In addition, the dressing could serve as a smart sensor, showing the state of the wound and sending an alert if it detected a change for the worse.

 "We could also imagine bed linen for hospital use which would stimulate the skin, preventing pressure sores," says Hasvold.

Here, too, there could be sensors to check the patient's state of health and possibly adjust their medication accordingly. This will enable health workers to spend their time on those who need it most – when they need it.

Combining care and technology

Hasvold points out that the intention is not to replace human care with computers and robots. But he makes it clear that we must be willing to introduce new technologies and organize health care in new ways to meet the challenges of the coming years.

"If not, we take the risk that the public health service – as we know it today – will collapse under the pressure of an ageing population. Nanotechnology can give us new tools to solve this, he concludes.

If you would like to know more about the potential for using nanotechnology in the public health service of the future, contact researcher Per Hasvold directly at mobile telephone (+47) 913 41 982

In brief…

…nanotechnology involves moving nature's basic building blocks, atoms and molecules, so that we can build up new substances. We can also transform known substances so that they take on new properties.

The term 'nanotechnology' comes from the Greek word "nanos", which means dwarf - and a nanometre is only a millionth of a millimetre. Or a billionth of a metre.

If you are curious, you can view a Norwegian animation presenting nanotechnology, "Atomer i arbeid” ("Atoms at work") on the forskning.no Web pages.

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