Multifunctional and Smart Wound Dressings—A Review on Recent Research Advancements in Skin Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

The healing of wounds is a dynamic function that necessitates coordination among multiple cell types and an optimal extracellular milieu. Much of the research focused on finding new techniques to improve and manage dermal injuries, chronic injuries, burn injuries, and sepsis, which are frequent medical concerns. A new research strategy involves developing multifunctional dressings to aid innate healing and combat numerous issues that trouble incompletely healed injuries, such as extreme inflammation, ischemic damage, scarring, and wound infection. Natural origin-based compounds offer distinct characteristics, such as excellent biocompatibility, cost-effectiveness, and low toxicity. Researchers have developed biopolymer-based wound dressings with drugs, biomacromolecules, and cells that are cytocompatible, hemostatic, initiate skin rejuvenation and rapid healing, and possess anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. The main goal would be to mimic characteristics of fetal tissue regeneration in the adult healing phase, including complete hair and glandular restoration without delay or scarring. Emerging treatments based on biomaterials, nanoparticles, and biomimetic proteases have the keys to improving wound care and will be a vital addition to the therapeutic toolkit for slow-healing wounds. This study focuses on recent discoveries of several dressings that have undergone extensive pre-clinical development or are now undergoing fundamental research.

Functional Electrospun Nanofibers Loaded with Plantago Major L. Extract for Potential Use in Cutaneous Wound Healing

“…Electrospinning is a promising technique to create nanofibrous mats with efficient morphological and mechanical properties, allowing those materials to have a good capacity for promoting the recovery of structurally damaged tissues close to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the skin [16,17]. These structural features have called attention to their application in regenerative medicine, which uses natural and synthetic polymers with the ability to encapsulate various active materials, drugs, and/or growth factors [18].…”

Wearable Smart Bandage-Based Bio-Sensors

“…Concentration gradient and other passive controlled therapeutic delivery mechanisms may not be suitable in many cases, and an external control unit is required for on-demand delivery. One example is the treatment of chronic wounds [ 159 ], in which the sensor’s objectives vary from controlling the wound environment through factors such as moisture and temperature to the introduction of drugs that enhance the healing process ( Figure 10 A). For these requirements, a hydrogel bandage would fit the criteria of the interface needed [ 160 , 161 ], as they enhance the compatibility with the skin through improved wetting ability which minimizes the air pockets between the device and the patient’s skin.…”

Antibacterial Aloe vera Based Biocompatible Hydrogel for Use in Dermatological Applications

“…The use of hydrogels, a 3D cross-linked hydrophilic polymeric network, as different types of wound dressing materials is due to their excellent biocompatible properties as well as their ability to absorb and retain hundreds of times their weight in water by maintaining their structure [ 14 , 15 ]. Accordingly, a perfect wound dressing is deemed to be one that meets the following requirements such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, antimicrobial, super absorbency and, last but not least, the avoidance of scarring [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”