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

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 O 2 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. Printable patches for treating tissue trauma Paper-based sensors that measure and adjust oxygen levels within chronic wounds could provide a low-cost solution for accelerating recovery. Such persistent injuries often result from diabetes and long-term hospitalization, and treatment is largely reliant on subjective assessment by healthcare providers. Babak Ziaie of Purdue University and colleagues have developed a proof-of-concept platform for manufacturing inkjet-printed, paper-based dressings that enable close control over oxygen levels in wound tissue—an important factor in the healing process. Their design employs arrays of integrated luminescent oxygen sensors, alongside catalytic regions that can be exposed to hydrogen peroxide to rapidly generate oxygen as needed. The authors demonstrate the potential utility of this approach with both in vitro and in vivo experiments, and they envision this platform as a foundation for future multi-sensor ‘smart’ wound dressings that can be affordably mass produced.