Dual-Mode Electrical Stimulation Dressing for Promoting Healing of Acute Wounds

Acute wounds present a significant global health challenge. While traditional dressings provide passive protection, they lack active intervention capabilities. Electrical stimulation (ES), which mimics endogenous bioelectric fields, shows promise in modulating cell migration and angiogenesis. However, wound healing is a dynamic process with continuously shifting microenvironments, and existing ES dressings often deliver a single output mode, failing to adapt to different healing stages. To address this, a dual-mode ES dressing is developed by integrating a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and Ag/Zn battery on a nonwoven fabric substrate. This design leverages dynamic wound conditions: exudate in early stages acts as an electrolyte to activate the Ag/Zn battery for direct current stimulation. As the wound dries, the reduced humidity facilitates efficient TENG operation, converting mechanical energy into pulsed electrical signals. In rat models, this dressing significantly enhanced healing, achieving 89.7% wound closure on day 10, significantly outperforming single-mode controls and demonstrating synergistic healing enhancement.