Multi-Axis Stretchable Zippers for Personalized Wound Healing.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Effective wound closure is critical for healing and preventing complications like infection and scarring.
• Current wound closure methods are limited to uniaxial application and lack programmability, restricting their use for complex wound geometries and personalized treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel multiaxial stretchable wound zipper for adaptable and programmable wound closure.
• To assess the device's efficacy in promoting wound healing and tissue regeneration in a preclinical model.

Main Methods:

• Engineered a multiaxial stretchable wound zipper using electrothermally driven mechanical metamaterials with a hierarchical lattice of shape memory alloys.
• The device enables six axes of stretching and programmable contraction controlled via smartphone, delivering adjustable forces (0–0.494 MPa) with a rapid response time (~1.73 s).
• Evaluated the device's performance in closing linear and circular wounds in a rat model, assessing healing rates and underlying mechanisms.

Main Results:

• The wound zipper achieved rapid, robust, and programmable multiaxial contraction, adaptable to diverse wound geometries.
• Demonstrated near-instantaneous closure of linear wounds and a 35.91% improvement in circular wound healing rate compared to controls.
• Mechanistic studies revealed that programmable contraction promoted vascular regeneration, re-epithelialization, and collagen matrix remodeling.

Conclusions:

• The developed multiaxial stretchable wound zipper represents a significant advancement in wound closure technology.
• The device offers programmable, adaptable, and effective mechanical contraction, showing substantial potential for personalized wound management and clinical translation.