The device can sit beneath a bandage and send infection alerts directly to a smartphone
Medical professionals identify infections by unwrapping a wound and then checking it for observable signs or by swabbing it and conducting a laboratory test.
To address these issues, some research teams are developing devices that sit under bandages and continuously monitor indirect signs of infection, such as changes in wound temperature or acidity.
Scientists at the National University of Singapore have now created an even more direct infection sensor.
It acts as a reliable infection indicator because disease-causing bacteria produce the enzyme in large amounts, whereas bacteria on healthy skin do not, so testing for it reduces the chance of a false positive result.
DNase builds up before other signs of infection appear.
This new alert system-dubbed the wireless infection detection on wounds, or WINDOW, sensor-is described in a paper published on Friday in Science Advances.
If the phone receives an infection alert, it can send a message to a doctor or tell the patient to return to the hospital for an antibiotic treatment.
Other researchers have tried different approaches to infection detection, including high-tech imaging to monitor bacterial spread and "Electronic noses" to sniff out an infection's chemical signals.
The researchers also used the device on six living laboratory mice whose wounds were exposed to the same bacterial species, and it successfully detected infections within 24 hours, before any physical signs had become visible.
Because the WINDOW sensor is still in its early days, Ho plans to continue testing it on larger groups of patients and on wounds infected with other types of bacteria.