Soft, Long-Lived, Bioresorbable Electronic Surgical Mesh with Wireless Pressure Monitor and On-Demand Drug Delivery.

Current research in the area of surgical mesh implants is somewhat limited to traditional designs and synthesis of various mesh materials, whereas meshes with multiple functions may be an effective approach to address long-standing challenges including postoperative complications. Herein, a bioresorbable electronic surgical mesh is presented that offers high mechanical strength over extended timeframes, wireless post-operative pressure monitoring, and on-demand drug delivery for the restoration of tissue structure and function. The study of materials and mesh layouts provides a wide range of tunability of mechanical and biochemical properties. Dissolvable dielectric composite with porous structure in a pyramidal shape enhances sensitivity of a wireless capacitive pressure sensor, and resistive microheaters integrated with inductive coils provide thermo-responsive drug delivery system for an antibacterial agent. In vivo evaluations demonstrate reliable, long-lived operation, and effective treatment for abdominal hernia defects, by clear evidence of suppressed complications such as adhesion formation and infections.

A Miniaturized, Battery-Free, Wireless Wound Monitor That Predicts Wound Closure Rate Early.

Diabetic foot ulcers are chronic wounds that affect millions and increase the risk of amputation and mortality, highlighting the critical need for their early detection. Recent demonstrations of wearable sensors enable real-time wound assessment, but they rely on bulky electronics, making them difficult to interface with wounds. Herein, a miniaturized, wireless, battery-free wound monitor that measures lactate in real-time and seamlessly integrates with bandages for conformal attachment to the wound bed is introduced. Lactate is selected due to its multifaceted role in initiating healing. Studies in healthy and diabetic mice reveal distinct lactate profiles for normal and impaired healing wounds. A mathematical model based on the sensor data predicts wound closure rate within the first 3 days post-injury with ≈76% accuracy, which increases to ≈83% when pH is included. These studies underscore the significance of monitoring biomarkers during the inflammation phase, which can offer several benefits, including short-term use of wound monitors and their easy removal, resulting in lower risks of injury and infection at the wound site. Improvements in prediction accuracy can be achieved by designing mathematical models that build on multiple wound parameters such as pro-inflammatory and metabolic markers. Achieving this goal will require designing multi-analyte wound monitors.

Biofluid-Activated Biofuel Cells, Batteries, and Supercapacitors: A Comprehensive Review.

Recent developments in wearable and implanted devices have resulted in numerous, unprecedented capabilities that generate increasingly detailed information about a user's health or provide targeted therapy. However, options for powering such systems remain limited to conventional batteries which are large and have toxic components and as such are not suitable for close integration with the human body. This work provides an in-depth overview of biofluid-activated electrochemical energy devices, an emerging class of energy sources judiciously designed for biomedical applications. These unconventional energy devices are composed of biocompatible materials that harness the inherent chemistries of various biofluids to produce useable electrical energy. This work covers examples of such biofluid-activated energy devices in the form of biofuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors. Advances in materials, design engineering, and biotechnology that form the basis for high-performance, biofluid-activated energy devices are discussed. Innovations in hybrid manufacturing and heterogeneous integration of device components to maximize power output are also included. Finally, key challenges and future scopes of this nascent field are provided.