TY - JOUR
T1 - A thermogalvanic cell dressing for smart wound monitoring and accelerated healing
AU - Xin, Jiwu
AU - Gao, Liheng
AU - Zhang, Wenjie
AU - Song, Xinyu
AU - Yang, Yuanmeng
AU - Li, Wenrui
AU - Zhou, Xuhui
AU - Zhang, Haozhe
AU - Wang, Zhe
AU - Wang, Zhixun
AU - He, Bing
AU - Liu, Yanting
AU - Zhou, Tianzhu
AU - Xiong, Ting
AU - Wang, Shuai
AU - Yuan, Shixing
AU - Li, Wulong
AU - Loo, Say Chye Joahchim
AU - Wang, Lu
AU - Wei, Lei
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2025.
PY - 2025/7
Y1 - 2025/7
N2 - 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 Fe2+/Fe3+ 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.
AB - 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 Fe2+/Fe3+ 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.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105010605510
U2 - 10.1038/s41551-025-01440-6
DO - 10.1038/s41551-025-01440-6
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:105010605510
SN - 2157-846X
JO - Nature Biomedical Engineering
JF - Nature Biomedical Engineering
ER -