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Scientists Develop Electrically Charged Patch for Faster Wound Healing

A child shows her adhesive bandage after being inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the vaccine rollout for children with comorbidities, in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines, October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David
A child shows her adhesive bandage after being inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the vaccine rollout for children with comorbidities, in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines, October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David
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Scientists Develop Electrically Charged Patch for Faster Wound Healing

A child shows her adhesive bandage after being inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the vaccine rollout for children with comorbidities, in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines, October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David
A child shows her adhesive bandage after being inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the vaccine rollout for children with comorbidities, in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines, October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

A team of researchers working at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China has developed an electrically charged thin film patch for promoting faster wound healing.

In their paper published in the Science Advances journal, the group describes their patch, how it works, and how well it performed when tested on rats.

For thousands of years, humans have been looking for ways to promote faster healing of wounds in order to reduce both the length of time a patient experiences pain and the chances of infection. In this new effort, the researchers created an electrically charged thin film patch that helps wounds heal faster.

Prior research has shown that applying electricity to wounds induces faster healing. Unfortunately, this approach has been limited by bulky and complicated machinery. In this new effort, the researchers created a small, flexible patch that takes advantage of electricity's healing powers without the need for such equipment.

The patch is four-layered: the top and bottom layers are made of a type of electrically charged plastic and they get their charge through contact with the skin. One of the middle layers is made of a silicone rubber gel that helps the patch conform to the contours of the skin. The other middle layer is made of a shape-memory alloy material; its purpose is to pull the sides of the wound closer. The resulting thin-film patch is just 0.2 millimeters thick.

The researchers applied the patch to two kinds of wounds on test rats—straight and circular. They compared healing rates against other types of dressings and against undressed wounds.

They found that circular wounds treated with the patch were 96.8 percent healed after eight days, compared to 76.4 to 79.9 percent for other dressings. Those that went untreated were only 45.9 percent healed.

They found similar results in straight-line wound healing, though all of them healed faster than the circular wounds—such wounds require far less new skin development to heal.

The researchers suggest their patch is a viable wound treatment option and plan to continue upgrading its features, such as allowing for differently shaped wounds.

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Cute carnivores: Bloodthirsty California Squirrels Go Nuts for Vole Meat

This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
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Cute carnivores: Bloodthirsty California Squirrels Go Nuts for Vole Meat

This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP

Squirrels might look like adorable, nut-hoarding furballs, but some are ruthless predators that hunt, tear apart, and devour voles.
That's the startling finding of a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of Ethology -- the first to document widespread carnivorous behavior in these seemingly innocent creatures.
"There is always something new to learn and wild animals continue to surprise us," lead author Jennifer E. Smith, an associate professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire told AFP.
"In a changing world with many technological advances, there is no replacement for direct observation of natural history, including watching the squirrels and birds that often visit our backyards."
The observations were made this summer, during the 12th year of a long-term study conducted at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, California.
Between June and July, researchers recorded 74 interactions involving California ground squirrels and voles, with 42 percent of them involving active hunting of their fellow rodents.
Co-author Sonja Wild, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, admitted she was initially skeptical of the reports brought to her by undergraduate students who first witnessed the behavior.
"I could barely believe my eyes," said Wild. But "once we started looking, we saw it everywhere."
It was previously known that as many as 30 species of squirrels opportunistically consume meat, ranging from small fish to birds. However, it was unclear whether this behavior stemmed from scavenging or active predation.
The new study is the first to confirm that hunting is, in fact, a common behavior.
Researchers observed squirrels crouching low to the ground before ambushing their prey, though more often, they chased voles, pounced, and delivered a neck bite followed by vigorous shaking.
The study also found that the squirrels' carnivorous behavior peaked during the first two weeks of July, coinciding with a surge in vole populations reported by citizen scientists on the iNaturalist app.
Other animals, such as raccoons, coyotes, and spotted hyenas, have been known to adapt their hunting strategies in response to human-induced changes in their environments.
"In a changing world, it can be daunting to consider all of the challenges that human presence, habitat loss, and climate change impose on animals," said Smith.
"Our study offers an exciting silver lining, demonstrating the incredible flexibility that some animals possess."
Several questions still remain unanswered.
Researchers hope to investigate how widespread hunting behavior is among squirrel species, whether it is passed down from parents to pups, and how it affects their broader ecosystems.