Adhesive-Free, Stretchable, and Permeable Multiplex Wound Care Platform

Abstract

The wound healing process remains a poorly understood biological mechanism. The high morbidity and mortality rates associated with chronic wounds are a critical concern to the health care industry. Although assessments and treatment options exist, these strategies have primarily relied on static wound dressings that do not consider the dynamic physicochemical microenvironment and can often create additional complications through the frequent dressing changing procedure. Inspired by the need for engineering "smart" bandages, this study resulted in a multifaceted approach to developing an adhesive-free, permeable, and multiplex sensor system. The electronic-extracellular matrix (e-ECM) platform is capable of noninvasively monitoring chemical and physical changes in real-time on a flexible, stretchable, and permeable biointegrated platform. The multiplex sensors are constructed atop a soft, thin, and microfibrous substrate of silicone to yield a conformal, adhesive-free, convective, or diffusive wound exudate flow, and passive gas transfer for increased cellular epithelization and unobstructed physical and chemical sensor monitoring at the wound site. This platform emulates the native epidermal mechanics and physical extracellular matrix architecture for intimate bio-integration. The multiple biosensor array can continuously examine inflammatory biomarker such as lactate, glucose, pH, oxygen, and wound temperature that correlates to the wound healing status. Additionally, a heating element was incorporated to maintain the optimal thermal conditions at the wound bed. The e-ECM electrochemical biosensors were tested in vitro, within phosphate-buffered saline, and ex vivo, within wound exudate. The "smart" wound bandage combines biocompatible materials, treatments, and monitoring modalities on a microfibrous platform for complex wound dynamic control and analysis.

Biocompatible Material‐Based Flexible Biosensors: From Materials Design to Wearable/Implantable Devices and Integrated Sensing Systems

“…In addition, the device can increase the speed of wound healing with the help of thermal emission. [133,134] Gao et al [135] designed a flexible and smart microfluidic biosensing bandage for point-ofcare (POC) measurement of different wound biomarkers. To optimize microelectrode performance on bandage, they modified each aptamer-based electrode with a thin graphene-gold nanoparticle (AuNPs-GP) nanocomposite.…”

“…[144] There are a large number of electrolytes distributed in body fluids, blood, sweat, and intracellular and extracellular fluids, which exert various biological effects and maintain the life of the organism. [64,145] Cations in living organisms mainly [134] Copyright 2022, American Chemical Society. b) Structural anatomy of a foldable sensor and contact angle testing of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions of the absorbent layer.…”

“…In addition, the construction of multifunctional electrode or sensor arrays and corresponding sweat flow channels can maximize the use of sweat and simultaneously read information about the type and content of ions and molecules in sweat. [134,178] In comparison to sweat sensing, IFS sensing escapes from high-intensity exercises and confounding sweat-related characteristics such as poor sweat rates, sample evaporation, sample freshness, and/or contamination from the skin. [67] Zheng et al [11c] developed novel stable, stretchable, biocompatible, and minimally invasive biosensors based on extended gate (EG) FETs for continuous and real-time sodium detection for health monitoring.…”

“…In addition, the device can increase the speed of wound healing with the help of thermal emission. [ 133,134 ] Gao et al. [ 135 ] designed a flexible and smart microfluidic biosensing bandage for point‐of‐care (POC) measurement of different wound biomarkers.…”

“…a) Schematic diagram of a functional sensor structure with multiple electrodes. Reproduced with permission [134]. Copyright 2022, American Chemical Society.…”