Flexible patch with printable and antibacterial conductive hydrogel electrodes for accelerated wound healing

Canran Wang; Xing Jiang; Han-Jun Kim; Shiming Zhang; Xingwu Zhou; Yi Chen; Haonan Ling; Yumeng Xue; Zhaowei Chen; Moyuan Qu; Li Ren; Jixiang Zhu; Alberto Libanori; Yangzhi Zhu; Heemin Kang; Samad Ahadian; Mehmet R Dokmeci; Peyman Servati; Ximin He; Zhen Gu; Wujin Sun; Ali Khademhosseini

doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121479

Flexible patch with printable and antibacterial conductive hydrogel electrodes for accelerated wound healing

Biomaterials. 2022 Jun:285:121479. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121479. Epub 2022 Apr 14.

Authors

Canran Wang¹, Xing Jiang², Han-Jun Kim³, Shiming Zhang⁴, Xingwu Zhou⁵, Yi Chen⁶, Haonan Ling⁷, Yumeng Xue⁸, Zhaowei Chen⁹, Moyuan Qu¹⁰, Li Ren¹¹, Jixiang Zhu¹², Alberto Libanori¹³, Yangzhi Zhu¹⁴, Heemin Kang¹⁵, Samad Ahadian¹⁶, Mehmet R Dokmeci¹⁶, Peyman Servati¹⁷, Ximin He¹⁸, Zhen Gu¹⁹, Wujin Sun²⁰, Ali Khademhosseini²¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
² School of Nursing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210023, China.
³ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA.
⁴ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
⁵ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States.
⁶ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Bloomage Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Jinan, Shandong, 250101, China; Bloomage Biotechnology Hainan Co.,Ltd., Haikou, Hainan, 571152, China.
⁷ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University and Shaanxi Joint Laboratory of Graphene, Xi'an, 710072, China.
⁹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; MOE Key Laboratory for Analytical Science of Food Safety and Biology, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China.
¹⁰ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Stomatology Hospital, School of Stomatology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Research of Zhejiang Province, Cancer Center of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310006, China.
¹¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Biotechnology, School of Life Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi, 710072, China; Research Center of Microfluidic Chip for Health Care and Environmental Monitoring, Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University, Taicang, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215400, China.
¹² Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 511436, China; The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Qingyuan People's Hospital, Qingyuan, 511518, China.
¹³ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
¹⁴ Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea.
¹⁶ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA; Department of Radiological Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
¹⁷ Flexible Electronics and Energy Lab (FEEL), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
¹⁸ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310016, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China; Zhejiang Laboratory of Systems & Precision Medicine, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, 311121, China; Jinhua Institute of Zhejiang University, Jinhua, 321299, China; Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
²⁰ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA; Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA. Electronic address: sunw@vt.edu.
²¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, CA, 90064, USA; Department of Radiological Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. Electronic address: khademh@terasaki.org.

PMID: 35487064
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121479

Abstract

Electrical stimulation can facilitate wound healing with high efficiency and limited side effects. However, current electrical stimulation devices have poor conformability with wounds due to their bulky nature and the rigidity of electrodes utilized. Here, a flexible electrical patch (ePatch) made with conductive hydrogel as electrodes to improve wound management was reported. The conductive hydrogel was synthesized using silver nanowire (AgNW) and methacrylated alginate (MAA), with the former chosen as the electrode material considering its antibacterial properties, and the latter used due to its clinical suitability in wound healing. The composition of the hydrogel was optimized to enable printing on medical-grade patches for personalized wound treatment. The ePatch was shown to promote re-epithelization, enhance angiogenesis, mediate immune response, and prevent infection development in the wound microenvironment. In vitro studies indicated an elevated secretion of growth factors with enhanced cell proliferation and migration ability in response to electrical stimulation. An in vivo study in the Sprague-Dawley rat model revealed a rapid wound closure within 7 days compared to 20 days of usual healing process in rodents.

Keywords: Antibacteria; Conductive hydrogel; Electrical stimulation; Wearable device; Wound healing.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Electrodes
Hydrogels* / pharmacology
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Wound Healing*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Hydrogels