Bionic meta microneedle photonic crystal patch for advanced wound care

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Chronic wounds present significant management challenges due to poor adhesion, therapy control, and lack of real-time monitoring.
• Existing wound care solutions often lack multifunctionality, hindering effective treatment and healing processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a bionic microneedle photonic crystal patch for chronic wound management.
• To integrate robust adhesion, spatiotemporal drug delivery, and optical biosensing into a single platform.
• To evaluate the patch's efficacy in promoting chronic wound healing in a preclinical model.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a bionic meta microneedle patch with biodegradable microneedles and a micropillar-inspired interface.
• Integration of drug-loaded microneedles and photonic crystal structures for sensing.
• In vivo testing on a chronic wound mouse model to assess healing, bacterial load, and inflammation.

Main Results:

• The patch demonstrated robust adhesion on dynamic skin surfaces.
• Photonic crystals enabled continuous, noninvasive monitoring of wound infection-related metabolites.
• Accelerated wound healing observed, characterized by inhibited bacterial proliferation, reduced inflammation, and enhanced tissue regeneration.

Conclusions:

• The bionic meta microneedle photonic crystal patch is a promising multifunctional platform for precision wound care.
• The device effectively combines adhesion, drug delivery, and dynamic biosensing for improved chronic wound management.
• This bioinspired system shows strong translational potential for advanced wound healing applications.