Xin Jiwu, Gao Liheng, Zhang Wenjie, Song Xinyu, Yang Yuanmeng, Li Wenrui, Zhou Xuhui, Zhang Haozhe, Wang Zhe, Wang Zhixun, He Bing, Liu Yanting, Zhou Tianzhu, Xiong Ting, Wang Shuai, Yuan Shixing, Li Wulong, Loo Say Chye Joahchim, Wang Lu, Wei Lei
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Prosthodontics, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Nat Biomed Eng. 2025 Jul 14. doi: 10.1038/s41551-025-01440-6.
Current smart dressings with wound monitoring and electrical stimulation capabilities rely on flexible electronics comprising various sensors and external power sources. Despite increasing efforts to integrate all these components onto flexible, breathable and biocompatible substrates, realizing a zero-power electrical stimulation without compromising the clinical applicability remains challenging. Here we report a solution that harnesses the temperature gradient between the wound and dressing to generate an electric stimulus that provides active wound healing management. This was achieved by a thermogalvanic cell (TGC) dressing composed of Fe/Fe cross-linked alginate hydrogel reinforced by nanofibres. The TGC dressing exhibits biocompatibility, antibacterial performance, easy re-shaping and moisture permeability. Moreover, the TGC dressing generates an exogenous electric field, promoting the spontaneous acceleration of wound healing. We additionally integrate a sensing system that can monitor respiration rate. In the large porcine wound model, the wound healing rate of a TGC-bandaged group is improved by about 20.6% on day 14 compared with an untreated group. Our wireless wound monitoring system may facilitate real-time monitoring of common wound models at different wound development stages.
当前具有伤口监测和电刺激功能的智能敷料依赖于包含各种传感器和外部电源的柔性电子器件。尽管人们越来越努力将所有这些组件集成到柔性、透气且生物相容的基材上，但在不影响临床适用性的情况下实现零功耗电刺激仍然具有挑战性。在此，我们报告一种解决方案，该方案利用伤口与敷料之间的温度梯度来产生电刺激，从而实现主动的伤口愈合管理。这是通过由纳米纤维增强的Fe/Fe交联海藻酸盐水凝胶组成的热电池（TGC）敷料实现的。TGC敷料具有生物相容性、抗菌性能、易于重塑和透湿性。此外，TGC敷料会产生外源电场，促进伤口愈合的自发加速。我们还集成了一个可以监测呼吸速率的传感系统。在大型猪伤口模型中，与未治疗组相比，TGC包扎组在第14天的伤口愈合率提高了约20.6%。我们的无线伤口监测系统可能有助于对不同伤口发展阶段的常见伤口模型进行实时监测。
