Portable Device for Wound Care: An Electrosprayable Zinc Basic Salt-Tranexamic Acid Nanohybrid System

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Wound Healing Technologies
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Clinical need for portable wound dressings with rapid hemostasis and pro-regenerative capabilities.
• Existing treatments lack combined hemostatic and regenerative functions in a convenient format.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and compare two electrospinning strategies for portable wound dressings integrating tranexamic acid-zinc basic salts (TXA-ZBS) with polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers.
• To evaluate the hemostatic and pro-regenerative performance of embedded (TXA-ZBS/PCL) versus surface-coated (TXA-ZBS@PCL) architectures.

Main Methods:

• Two electrospinning methods: blending TXA-ZBS into PCL (embedded) and electrospinning TXA-ZBS onto PCL mats (surface-coated).
• Characterization of mechanical integrity, deployability, and drug release kinetics (TXA and Zn2+).
• In vitro and in vivo wound models to assess hemostasis and wound closure.

Main Results:

• Both TXA-ZBS/PCL and TXA-ZBS@PCL maintained mechanical integrity and spray-on capability.
• Surface-coated TXA-ZBS@PCL demonstrated superior cumulative TXA availability and sustained release kinetics compared to the embedded format.
• TXA-ZBS@PCL showed faster hemostatic response and improved wound closure in both in vitro and in vivo models.

Conclusions:

• Surface-coated TXA-ZBS@PCL is the preferred design for localized, surface-constrained hemostasis due to enhanced drug delivery and efficacy.
• Embedded TXA-ZBS/PCL offers a controlled release option for situations where deeper diffusion is not required.
• This comparative study provides a framework for selecting optimal architectures for advanced portable wound care devices.