Scientists have recently developed a new type of patch. The goal of a patch is to “fight back against antibiotic resistance and heal wounds more quickly“.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science in China write in their published paper (link in sources) – “However, the common methods of sensing resistance are limited (by time), the requirement for professional personnel, and expensive instruments. Moreover, the abuse of antibiotics causes the accelerated process of bacterial resistance“. However bandage recently discovered, can overcome some of these limitations. Ingredients that are in our patch can be easily distributed and fight bacteria immediately, without professional personnel and equipment required. Moreover, a person wearing bandage gets continuous feedback on what’s happening with the wound. 
The green color on the patch means no bacteria in our wound. The yellow color means that the bacteria are drug-sensitive responsive to our antibiotics. Red color, on the other hand, means that that the bacteria need extra help to be wiped out because it’s drug-resistant. “If drug resistance is detected, an intense beam of light can be used to activate the release of a highly reactive species of oxygen to weaken the bacteria, making them more susceptible to the antibiotic in the material.” – as David Nield from sciencalert.com refers. After testing this kind of bandage on mice, scientists were able to successfully treat both DS (drug-sensitive) and DR (drug-resistant) E.coli bacteria infections using the new method.
In recent years we’ve noticed many updates of traditional bandages, such as nanofibre mesh or the novel bandage for burn wounds, that stop bacteria from multiplying and minimizes the risk of infection. Color changing bandage not only releases antibiotics to the wound but also informs the patient about the situation inside his wound.
Researchers from ACS Central Science say – “This work develops a new way for the rational use of antibiotics, […] given the low cost and easy operation of this point-of-care device, it can be developed for practical applications.”
Sources:
- https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscentsci.9b01104
- https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-developed-a-colour-changing-bandage-to-detect-bacterial-infections?perpetual=yes&limitstart=1