Integrated sensing and delivery of oxygen for next-generation smart wound dressings

Abstract

Chronic wounds affect over 6.5 million Americans and are notoriously difficult to treat. Suboptimal oxygenation of the wound bed is one of the most critical and treatable wound management factors, but existing oxygenation systems do not enable concurrent measurement and delivery of oxygen in a convenient wearable platform. Thus, we developed a low-cost alternative for continuous O2 delivery and sensing comprising of an inexpensive, paper-based, biocompatible, flexible platform for locally generating and measuring oxygen in a wound region. The platform takes advantage of recent developments in the fabrication of flexible microsystems including the incorporation of paper as a substrate and the use of a scalable manufacturing technology, inkjet printing. Here, we demonstrate the functionality of the oxygenation patch, capable of increasing oxygen concentration in a gel substrate by 13% (5 ppm) in 1 h. The platform is able to sense oxygen in a range of 5–26 ppm. In vivo studies demonstrate the biocompatibility of the patch and its ability to double or triple the oxygen level in the wound bed to clinically relevant levels.

Highly Concentrated, Conductive, Defect-free Graphene Ink for Screen-Printed Sensor Application

“…The on-body monitoring of sodium and chloride ions in sweat can be utilized to indicate dehydration status and to diagnose cystic fibrosis [25,26]. The potassium level in sweat is related to muscle activity [27], and pH monitoring can be used for the management of chronic wounds [28]. A number of wearable sweat sensors have recently been developed in many different device forms, such as multi-sensor arrays [29], textile-based potentiometric sensors [30], smart bandages [31], patches [32], and tattoos [33], and these sensors are capable of monitoring electrolytes, metabolites, heavy metals, and toxic gases in human body fluids [34][35][36].…”

A Wearable Optical Microfibrous Biomaterial with Encapsulated Nanosensors Enables Wireless Monitoring of Oxidative Stress

“…Multi-compartment smart wound dressings have attracted substantial interest in the past few years due to their potential for enabling simultaneous wound monitoring and healing. [51,52] A smart wound dressing usually integrates multiple layers into a single flexible biomaterial platform. [84] A therapeutic layer can be designed to enable wound healing by incorporating antibiotics, growth factors, etc., into a 3D biocompatible scaffold such as hydrogels and microfibers.…”

“…With revolutionary advances in nanotechnology and biomaterials in recent years, an extensive range of smart wound care biomaterials has been developed that enable localized delivery of drugs on the wound site [49,50] and real-time monitoring of the wound microenvironment. [51,52] Electrospun microfibers are one of the novel classes of wound dressings as they mimic the chemical and mechanical environment of the 3D extracellular matrix. [53,54] Microfiber-based wound dressings have been designed to enhance cell migration, [55] prevent inflammation and infection, [56] and inhibit scar formation on wounds.…”

A Wearable Optical Microfibrous Biomaterial with Encapsulated Nanosensors Enables Wireless Monitoring of Oxidative Stress

“…Multi-compartment smart wound dressings have attracted a substantial interest in the past few years due to their potential for enabling simultaneous wound monitoring and healing. [51,52] A smart wound dressing usually integrates multiple layers into a single flexible biomaterial platform. [69] A therapeutic layer can be designed to enable wound healing by incorporating antibiotics, growth In addition to a single real-time readout, we demonstrated the potential of our platform for spatially resolving the peroxide concentrations on a wound surface using an InGaAs camera, without the need to use any additional marker.…”

“…With revolutionary advances in nanotechnology and biomaterials in recent years, an extensive range of smart wound care biomaterials have been developed that enable localized delivery of drugs on the wound site [49,50] and real-time monitoring of the wound microenvironment. [51,52] Electrospun microfibers are one of the novel classes of wound dressings as they mimic the chemical and mechanical environment of the 3D extracellular matrix. [53,54] Microfiber-based wound dressings have been designed to enhance cell migration, [55] prevent inflammation and infection, [56] and inhibit scar formation on wounds.…”