Spatiotemporal acoustic meta-patches for multifactorial wound treatment.

Abstract

Ultrasound patches have demonstrated values in non-invasive diagnostics through echo reception, while their therapeutic potentials are restricted by precisely controlling ultrasound energy and integrating multi-effects. Here, we introduce a spatiotemporal acoustic meta-patch (STAMP) that generates controllable heating, mechanical, and biological effects for synergistic multifactorial wound treatment. The STAMP utilizes acoustic metamaterial composites, including reconfigurable interdigital transducers (IDTs) and acoustic impedance matching layer, to focus and transport ultrasound energy with high spatial precision and efficiency. This patch exhibits multiple therapeutic effects, such as localized heating, ultrasound-enhanced bioactive agent delivery and cell migration. Based on these beneficial effects, we show that STAMP can precisely and spatiotemporally regulate wound microenvironments by modulating temperature, inflammation, and wound closure, providing a proof-of-concept for enhanced multifactorial wound healing. We believe that the reconfigurable and multifunctional acoustic metamaterials-based patch may open new possibilities for direct ultrasound-based therapeutics.