Wounds to the skin, mucous membranes or organs can cause severe pain and even serious infection. Without proper care, wounds can be easily invaded by pathogens, hindering healing and delaying healing. In severe cases, it may also lead to a series of concurrent diseases such as sepsis , which can be life-threatening. How can
more efficiently, conveniently and intelligently grasp the state of the wound and give precise drug treatment? Recently, the team of Professor Liu Qingjun from the School of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science of Zhejiang University has developed a wireless passive smart "Band-Aid" based on flexible electronic technology, which realizes precise electronically controlled drug delivery on the basis of multi-parameter wound monitoring. feedback therapy.
Wireless passive flexible closed-loop smart wound patch
reporters saw that this electronic patch, which looks like a "Band-Aid", can not only realize real-time monitoring of wounds in situ, but also precisely control drug delivery. For infectious wounds, this new electronic skin patch is undoubtedly of great significance for the detection and treatment of such diseases. This achievement was recently published in the internationally renowned journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Flexible sensor patch
In order to better fit the skin, the researchers adopted a serpentine wire design, and used the flexible electrode processing technology to realize the processing and preparation of the flexible sensing electrode. The sensing electrode can achieve various deformations such as stretching, bending and twisting, so that it can adapt to the soft skin interface of the human body and achieve comfortable contact with the wound surface. Construction and modification of
flexible electrode array In the design of
, the patch has a double-layer structure, and the upper layer is a flexible circuit integrated with functions such as near field communication technology module, temperature sensing and drug controlled release. The lower layer is the sensing electrode and the controlled drug release electrode, which are used for the detection of wound pH and uric acid, as well as drug release.
Wireless passive
"Near-field communication technology can realize wireless energy harvesting, which can be used to drive a variety of electrochemical sensing methods to realize signal acquisition and wireless transmission." Professor Liu Qingjun said.
In the laboratory , the reporter did not find the battery that provides power for this magical "Band-Aid", so how is the power provided? How is the information analyzed?
These answers will be answered by a smartphone with a near field communication technology module: by approaching the patch, wirelessly powers , obtains the detection results, and then controls the drug release according to the detected infection data, thereby Realize the feedback management of the whole process from monitoring to intelligent drug delivery.
Precision drug delivery
Professor Liu Qingjun has long been engaged in the research of sensor detection based on smart phones, and in the actual investigation, the team found that a large number of clinical patients are suffering from complications caused by wound ulcers. So he thought of applying detection technology to wound management. How is
wound recovery going? In the past, we often learned through observation. Liu Qingjun's team realized multi-parameter monitoring of wound inflammation indicators such as uric acid, pH, and temperature through intelligent sensing technology. They detected wound uric acid and pH, and wound temperature was monitored using a high-precision temperature sensor chip.
Professor Liu Qingjun introduced that the results of multi-parameter wound detection can not only be used as an effective means of evaluating the severity of wounds, but also provide guidance for electronically controlled drug release as a feedback evaluation of drug treatment results.
Electrically controlled drug release
In vivo animal research on wound monitoring and infection treatment
Traditional wound drug dressings act on the target site through the slow diffusion of the drug itself.The intelligent drug delivery mode developed by Zhejiang University researchers relies on potential control to achieve precise on-demand drug delivery. The electronically controlled drug release module designed by the team uses a positively charged polypyrrole film to wrap the negatively charged drug molecule . When a negative electric excitation is applied to the electrode, the drug molecule will dissociate from the main chain of the polypyrrole film, and the electric field Under the action of force, it is released to the wound surface to achieve the purpose of treatment.
In this experiment, the research team inoculated Staphylococcus aureus on the surface wounds of mice to form an animal model of infected wound , and applied the constructed intelligent "Band-Aid" to the wound to achieve a good wound. Monitoring and drug treatment effect.
In the future, the research team expects that this magical "band-aid" based on near field communication can be applied to the wearable monitoring management and precision treatment of chronic wounds such as diabetic gangrene, venous leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, severe burns and scalds. In order to bring good news to patients who have been suffering from wound infection for a long time.
