Smart Composite Hydrogels for Monitoring and Managing Chronic Wounds

TL;DR

This paper reviews smart hydrogels that can monitor chronic wounds in real-time, offering a new approach to wound management.

Contribution

The paper introduces composite hydrogels with functional fillers for intelligent wound monitoring and personalized treatment.

Findings

Composite hydrogels can sense key wound parameters in real-time.

Multimodal monitoring systems are being developed for different chronic wound types.

Future directions aim at personalized intelligent wound management systems.

Abstract

The precise management of chronic wounds poses a global medical challenge, owing to their complex and dynamically shifting pathological microenvironment, coupled with their inherent difficulty in healing. Traditional dressings, which lack capabilities for real-time monitoring and active intervention, fall short of meeting modern clinical needs. Composite hydrogels offer a novel solution to this problem. By integrating functional fillers within biocompatible hydrogel matrices, they form intelligent materials capable of sensing key wound parameters. This review systematically outlines the composite systems and material classification of such hydrogels designed for the intelligent monitoring of chronic wounds. It subsequently details the construction of multimodal monitoring systems and their applications across different types of chronic wounds., Finally, future development direction are discussed, aiming to advance the implementation of next generation, personalized intelligent wound management systems.

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