2023-04-28 06:15:12
Chronic so-called “non-healing” wounds affect tens of millions of people worldwide. Thus, 15% to 25% of diabetic patients will develop a foot wound during their lifetime because this part of the body, less well vascularized due to arterial obstruction, can also become less sensitive due to neurological damage. “These wounds are conducive to infection and necrosis and their treatment is difficult, explains Jean-Pierre Riveline, diabetologist at the Lariboisière hospital (AP-HP). In the most serious cases, they lead to amputation. »
What if an “intelligent” dressing made it possible to monitor a wound, treat it and stimulate its healing at the same time? This is the challenge set by a team from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Their prototype, tested on small rodents, is detailed in the review Science Advances.
“Few technologies can be used to continuously monitor the microenvironment of a wound”explains researcher Wei Gao, assistant professor of medical engineering and lead author of the publication. “Our laboratory has great expertise in the field of portable wireless sensors and flexible electronics. Hence the design of this patch capable of performing non-intrusive monitoring and multi-criteria analysis of wound biomarkers, he explains. We can offer personalized therapy with antibiotic and anti-inflammatory treatments, but also accelerate tissue regeneration through electrical stimulation. »
Avoid amputation
The work of the researchers, which lasted nearly three years, encountered several pitfalls. “We have thus discovered that the complex matrix of the wound considerably influences the performance of the sensors”, explains Wei Gao. A problem the team solved “by incorporating a polymer layer to limit the concentration” substances measured at the sensors, a device that made “more stable and more precise responses”.
According to Professor Jean-Pierre Riveline, “even if it is only a preclinical study, this multifunction tool, with its monitoring system that can follow the evolution of the severity of a wound and remedy it directly, is full of promise”. This specialist believes that this advanced technological work allows more “to highlight a problem whose seriousness is unfortunately very little mentioned”.
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