Modern technologies of early diagnosis of wound infection

The article presents an analysis of the data of modern literature devoted to the study of early diagnosis of wound infection. It is well known that wound healing is a very complex and dynamic mechanism of wound re-epithelialization. At the same time, the normal microflora of the skin plays an important function for maintaining homeostasis and the formation of the skin. There are about 1000 species of microorganisms belonging to the normal flora of human skin and do not cause any harm to healthy people. At the same time, there are microorganisms that, when they enter the wound, lead to the development of infectious complications of wounds as a result of a violation of the integrity of the skin. They include both gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp., Morganella spp., etc.). Early detection of these microorganisms will contribute to timely and high-quality treatment of wound infection. Currently, there are certain conditions that limit the use of microbiological research methods used to establish a clinical diagnosis of wound infection (long duration, labor intensity, required level of qualification of specialists, etc.). This dictates the need to develop new, fast and easy-to-use methods for diagnosing wound infection. To this end, a group of researchers from Russia (Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology) and the USA (University of Texas at Austin) have recently developed wearable sensors for the diagnosis of wound infection. These sensors can be embedded in wound dressings and are able to detect certain biomarkers indicating the presence of wound infection. Among these biomarkers, pH and uric acid are the most commonly used, but there are many others (lactic acid, oxygenation, inflammatory mediators, bacterial metabolites or the bacteria themselves). Currently, the development of microelectronics, the emergence of biochemical sensors, active microfluidics and painless microneedles have led to the creation of new generations of wearable biosensors that provide completely new opportunities in the fight against wound infection.