Elastic sac-shaped hydrogel dressing with responsive antibacterial and pro-healing in movable wounds via MOF activated ink spraying.

Abstract

In daily life, sports frequently cause skin injuries, particularly in movable parts such as joints. However, the frequent movement of joints can impede the proper fitting of dressings, resulting in re-tearing of the wound, an increased infection risk, and prolonged healing. Moreover, demand for skin wound dressings in movable parts has risen, as around 2.4 million joint surgeries are performed annually. Therefore, it is crucial to design an elastic wound dressing that can accommodate repeated joint movements and control wound infection responsively. In this study, a biomimetic hydrogel dressing was designed based on the inkjet behaviour of the elastic ink sac of cuttlefish through repeated extrusion. This dressing comprises a highly elastic polyether F127 diacrylate-based ink sac with micro-nozzles, along with antibacterial and pro-healing ink, metal-organic framework modified gelatin, possessing responsive release properties. With the movement rhythm, the super-elastic dressing perfectly conforms to the wounds in joints or other movable parts to absorb exudation and release therapeutic ink in response to the microenvironment to prevent infection. In conclusion, the biomimetic dressing demonstrates excellent mechanical properties with a deformation of approximately 400 %, and attains an antibacterial rate exceeding 95 %. Compared with the control group, collagen production increases by 2.6 times, and the wound healing speed is enhanced by over 20 %. Therefore, the application of the biomimetic dressing is anticipated to offer a novel approach for managing skin infection wounds in movable parts.