(Newser)
– A 17-year-old high school student and finalist in a national science competition has crafted an impressive invention that hopes to save lives, especially in developing countries. Dasia Taylor, of Iowa City, Iowa, had read about “smart” sutures coated with a conductive material that can transmit changes in a wound to smartphones and computers, she reports. Smithsonian. The problem, as Dasia saw it, was that those expensive sutures were unlikely to be accessible to people in low- and middle-income countries, where surgical site infections tend to be more frequent and deadly. Washington Post. When her chemistry teacher talked about a statewide science fair in October 2019, Dasia set to work making her own sutures that would record changes in pH levels without electronics. The key: beets.
Human skin has a pH around 5, but that increases to 9 with an infection. As Dasia discovered, beet juice is bright red at a pH of 5, but turns dark purple at a pH of 9. This meant that a suture containing beet juice dye would have to change. of color at the onset of an infection. Tests with a mixture of cotton-polyester yarn proved Dasia’s theory. Within five minutes at a pH of 9, the sutures turned dark purple. After three days, they disappeared until they reached a light gray. Dasia not only “dominated” the state competition, but was named one of the 40 national finalists in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search Publication. More research is needed to translate the idea into practical use. Standard sutures, for example, are not absorbent to keep bacteria out. But Dasia is not deterred and plans to patent her invention. (Read more invention stories.)