Multifunctional self-pumping microneedle dressing with pH monitoring for MRSA-infected diabetic wounds

Infected diabetic wounds face multiple challenges, including bacterial infection, uncontrolled inflammation, and impaired angiogenesis, leading to prolonged wound healing. However, traditional dressings for infected diabetic wounds lack effective antibacterial properties, cannot manage inflammatory exudate, or cannot monitor healing in real time. Hence, we propose a pH-monitoring self-pumping antibacterial microneedle dressing that simultaneously provides antibacterial activity, inflammatory exudate management, and wound status monitoring. The dressing consists of a pH-monitoring absorbent layer, an adhesive drainage layer, and an antimicrobial microneedle layer. The first two layers form a pH-monitoring self-pumping backing layer. The microneedle layer of this dressing punctures the MRSA biofilm in diabetic wounds and eradicates MRSA. The dissolved microneedle tips drain inflammatory exudate into the pH-monitoring self-pumping backing layer, where unidirectional drainage enables exudate removal and pH colorimetric monitoring to assess wound healing status. In MRSA-infected diabetic wound healing experiments and immunofluorescence analyses, this dressing demonstrates excellent antibacterial activity, inflammatory regulation, and vascular regeneration. This multifunctional integrated dressing offers a novel treatment paradigm for infected diabetic wounds.