Scientists in Taiwan reviewed at the latest wound healing technology and looked at how it could be used in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.
The natural process of healing a wound involves ions, cells, blood vessels, genes, and the immune system all working together. Each player is triggered by a sequence of molecular events that happen over time. It’s a big part of this process that the damaged epithelium – the layer of cells that cover tissue – makes a weak electric field. Because of an ion gradient in the wound bed, an electric field forms. This helps cells move and blood vessels form in the area.
In the mid- to late-1900s, scientists discovered that activating tissue with an electric field helped promote wound healing. The current focus of this field’s research is on building compact, wearable, and low-cost patches that aren’t hampered by external electrical equipment.
This has sparked interest in piezoelectric materials, such as crystals, silk, wood, bone, hair, and rubber, as well as synthetic materials like quartz analogues, ceramics, and polymers. When mechanical stress is applied to these materials, an electric current is generated. Nanogenerators made from synthetic materials are particularly promising.
Some research groups, for example, are investigating the use of self-powered piezoelectric nanogenerators constructed using zinc oxide nanorods on a polydimethylsiloxane matrix to speed wound healing. Zinc oxide has the properties of piezoelectricity and biocompatibility. Due to their high piezoelectricity, chemical stability, ease of manufacture, and biocompatibility, other scientists are employing polyurethane and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) scaffolds. In laboratory and animal experiments, these and other piezoelectric nanogenerators have showed promise.
When two interface materials come into and out of touch with each other, a device known as a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) generates an electric current. TENGs, which generate electricity from breathing movements, have been used by scientists to speed up wound healing in rats. They’ve also placed medicines into TENG patches to help with wound healing while also treating localized infections.
Zong-Hong Lin of the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan said: “Piezoelectric and triboelectric nanogenerators are excellent candidates for self-assisted wound healing due to their light weight, flexibility, elasticity and biocompatibility. But there are still several bottlenecks to their clinical application.”
They must, for example, be customized to ensure that they are fit-for-purpose, as wound dimensions vary greatly. They must also be securely fastened without being harmed or damaged by the fluids that naturally leak from wounds.
“Our future aim is to develop cost-effective and highly efficient wound dressing systems for practical clinical applications,” says Lin.
