Pressure injuries are a common and painful condition among elderly and immobile patients, often caused by prolonged pressure that damages skin tissue. Contact with bio-contaminants such as urine or feces can worsen these wounds, yet real-time monitoring remains difficult due to caregiver shortages. Now, a new wireless sensing technology enables continuous monitoring of multiple physiological signals to detect and prevent pressure injuries early, even in resource-limited care settings.

Developed by the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI, Changwon, Republic of Korea) in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT, Daejeon, Republic of Korea) and collaborators, the wireless multi-sensing platform operates without batteries through wireless power transfer. The platform can simultaneously detect pressure, temperature, and ammonia (NH3) gas levels emitted from bio-contaminants. It integrates a nanomaterial-based sensor system designed for high sensitivity, flexibility, and biocompatibility.

The sensor utilizes copper sulfide (CuS) nanomaterials, chosen for their strong antibacterial properties and ability to selectively detect ammonia. Researchers enhanced the CuS surface into a porous structure to rapidly detect trace amounts of NH3 gas. The system’s design also ensures low-cost production, with the CuS material fabricated simply by immersing commercial copper foam in sulfur solution—reducing costs by more than 17 times compared to traditional methods, according to findings published in Advanced Functional Materials.

In hospital trials, sensors attached to five patients—including hemiplegic individuals—allowed nurses to monitor skin health in real time via smartphones and laptops. The technology improved early prevention of pressure injuries and boosted caregiving efficiency. Future developments aim to extend sensing to skin moisture, pH, and lactic acid, advancing its use in chronic wound care, infection detection, and rehabilitation.

"We have developed a highly efficient material that can selectively detect ammonia among gases emitted from the human body at room temperature without an external energy source, and this marks the world's first application of such a material in a wireless sensor platform," said Dr. Myungwoo Choi, Senior Researcher at KERI.

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