Focus Project Dynova

Leveraging mechanotherapy for dermal wound healing

Dynova is an ETH Zurich Focus Project. Ten Bachelor's students build one prototype in one academic year: a wound dressing that reads the state of a chronic wound and responds with electrical and mechanical stimulation. I'm one of the ten.

Why chronic wounds

Some wounds don't close for months or years. Today's dressings protect and absorb, but what happens underneath stays invisible until the next dressing change, often days later.

Illustration of the four layers of the Dynova wound dressing concept
The four layers of the Dynova concept. Graphic: Team Dynova

A dressing in four layers

The concept splits the patch into layers. Each one has a single job.

  1. ElectronicsKept off the wound, it controls measurements and stimulation.
  2. StimulationElectrodes and soft actuators that act on the wound.
  3. SensingSensors that read the wound continuously instead of once every few days.
  4. Wound interfaceA soft, conductive hydrogel, the only layer that touches the wound.

My part: sensing and the test rig

I work on the sensing layer. We look at pH, temperature, moisture, glucose, lactate and bioimpedance, using electrochemical measurements.

I'm also building a test rig that simulates the wound environment automatically. That way we can test sensors and stimulation before anything gets near a patient.

  • pH

    Chronic wounds often stay alkaline. A shift towards acidic goes along with healing.

  • Temperature

    A rising wound temperature can signal infection, a cold wound poor blood supply.

  • Moisture

    Too wet damages the skin around the wound, too dry stops cells from migrating.

  • Glucose and lactate

    Metabolic markers in the wound fluid, linked to infection.

  • Bioimpedance

    An electrode array could map which parts of the wound have already closed.

Where the project is

We're in the concept phase. The details will be shaped by testing and by input from clinicians.

  1. April 2026Approved by D-MAVT as a Focus Project
  2. September 2026Project kick-off
  3. October 2026Research phase complete
  4. Until December 2026Feature development
  5. Until May 2027Product development
  6. June 2027Rollout of the prototype

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Edoardo Mazza, Experimental Continuum Mechanics Lab, ETH Zurich.

Visit dynova.ch

Project content on this page comes from dynova.ch. Logo and layer graphic: Team Dynova.