Akbari and his UVic-based research team with collaborators from Harvard Medical School and UBC, are working with [UVic Industry Partnerships](http://www.uvic.ca/research/partner/faculty-staff/services/industryservices/index.php) to commercialize GelDerm, a patent-pending bandage that monitors pH levels at wound sites to detect the earliest signs of bacterial infection. A patient using GelDerm will be able to scan over the bandage’s embedded sensors with a smartphone app to gauge whether infection has set in. The information can be used for self-monitoring and can be relayed wirelessly to a patient’s healthcare team for follow-up. Should antibiotics be required to treat an incipient infection, they can be administered directly through the bandage without having to remove it. “There is a pressing need to develop advanced dressings that are capable of monitoring wound conditions and providing proper treatment when necessary,” says Akbari, whose bandage was featured on the cover of _Advanced Health Care Materials_ this week. “The proposed technology holds great promise in managing chronic and acute injuries caused by trauma, surgery or diabetes.”