The key to Impedimap is that the system can be used to provide instant, accurate feedback on wounds such as venous leg ulcers, diabetic ulcers and sores, burns and surgical wounds - all without removing the dressing. It works using an electrode array system built into the bandage, which builds up a map of the wounds that is then transmitted to a specially developed monitor.
Dr. McAdams is also a director of Ulster based Sensor Technology & Devices, a business which specializes in the application of sensor technologies to all aspects of physiological measurement, and which developed the electrodes in the Impedimap system.
Dr. McAdams says the system is unique and sees its initial success will be as a way of monitoring wound care products and procedures. There are a large number of products, which claim to promote healing, but McAdams argues, "If you can't monitor them you can't prove they work."
All this is done without the need to take bandages off which can affect the healing process.
"It's a system which could be used to prove something either way - if it works or not. How else do you prove if something is healing a wound, " said Peter O' Hare. O'Hare believes Impedimap will save health services money and "provide better focussed and less invasive care for people. Now we want to take our idea forward to bigger and better things. More and more people are being cared for in their own homes through care in the community and we believe that our research can improve their care and quality of life."
Dr. McAdams already has his eye on the next stage of development for Impedimap, which will be to incorporate a wound healing system into the bandage. "There's a market for monitoring, but there's a bigger market for something that promotes healing," said McAdams.