Multimodal smart suture for dynamic postoperative wound monitoring

Postoperative wound management remains challenging, owing to the lack of tools for continuous, localized, and quantitative assessment of wound inflammation. To address this limitation, we advance a device-level integration strategy that enables localized multimodal monitoring within a suturable platform. We develop a multifunctional smart suture by engineering a metal-organic framework (MOF) layer onto a conductive thermoelectric (TE) fiber. This unique structure integrates bifunctional electrochemical and thermoelectric sensing on a single platform for real-time monitoring of wound healing dynamics. The precise deposition of metal organic framework layer is fabricated via atomic layer deposition, which provides a highly active interface for sensitive detection of physiologically relevant hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). This method features ultra-high sensitivity (8450 μA mM^-1 cm^-2) and a low detection limit (77.44 nM). Meanwhile, the TE fiber enables accurate local temperature monitoring with a sensitivity of 76.60 μV K^-1. The smart suture retains sufficient mechanical strength and supports biocompatibility and stable sensing performance for surgical suturing. By fusing multimodal sensing outputs with machine learning-assisted analysis, the system enables classification of inflammation-related states. Evaluated in rat wound models, the suture demonstrates the capability to monitor changes in local inflammatory responses under experimental conditions, highlighting its potential for advanced wound monitoring.