Abstract
‘Smart’ bandages based on multimodal wearable devices could enable real-time physiological monitoring and active intervention to promote healing of chronic wounds. However, there has been limited development in incorporation of both sensors and stimulators for the current smart bandage technologies. Additionally, while adhesive electrodes are essential for robust signal transduction, detachment of existing adhesive dressings can lead to secondary damage to delicate wound tissues without switchable adhesion. Here we overcome these issues by developing a flexible bioelectronic system consisting of wirelessly powered, closed-loop sensing and stimulation circuits with skin-interfacing hydrogel electrodes capable of on-demand adhesion and detachment. In mice, we demonstrate that our wound care system can continuously monitor skin impedance and temperature and deliver electrical stimulation in response to the wound environment. Across preclinical wound models, the treatment group healed ~25% more rapidly and with ~50% enhancement in dermal remodeling compared with control. Further, we observed activation of proregenerative genes in monocyte and macrophage cell populations, which may enhance tissue regeneration, neovascularization and dermal recovery.
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The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its supplementary information.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Stanford Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to Spectrum. The CTSA program is led by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at NIH. Part of this work was performed at Stanford Nano Shared Facilities, supported by the National Science Foundation under award no. ECCS-2026822. We thank Agfa for providing PEDOT:PSS. We thank T. Carlomagno and T. Vang for administrative support. We thank Y. J. Park for tissue histology support, and D. Wu at Stanford Animal Histology Services and P. Chu at the Human Research Histology Core for help with preparation of histologic specimens. We thank S. Kananian for instrument support with VNA measurements. We also thank R. Altman for his guidance with the project.
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Y.J., A.A.T., S.N., G.C.G. and Z.B. designed the study. S.N. and Y.J. performed circuit design and testing. Y.J., C.-C.S., J.-C.L., D.Z. and J.T. performed material synthesis and characterizations. A.A.T., Y.J., D.H., K.C., A.M.M.-B., S.M., M.R.L., A.S., E.B., S.J., S.R.S., K.S., T.J., E.Z., C.R.N., W.G.V., D.S., J.P., M.R., D.P.P., A.C., M.C.L., C.A.B., S.H.K., K.S.F., G.G., K.L. and K.Z. performed animal and cell culture experiments and single-cell evaluations. Y.J., A.A.T., S.N., M.J., G.C.G. and Z.B. wrote the manuscript with input from all coauthors.
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Y.J., A.A.T., S.N., G.C.G. and Z.B. have filed a provisional application of patent through Stanford University with the assigned application number 63/238,017. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
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Jiang, Y., Trotsyuk, A.A., Niu, S. et al. Wireless, closed-loop, smart bandage with integrated sensors and stimulators for advanced wound care and accelerated healing. Nat Biotechnol 41, 652–662 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01528-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01528-3
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