Search Results (188)

Background/Objectives: Upper limb amputation presents considerable physical and psychological challenges, especially in young, active individuals. This case study outlines the rehabilitation journey of a 33-year-old patient, an Italian national Paralympic snowboard cross athlete, who underwent elective transradial amputation followed by advanced surgical and prosthetic interventions. The objective was to assess the combined impact of upper limb Targeted Sensory Reinnervation (ulTSR) and the Adam’s Hand prosthetic system on functional recovery and user satisfaction. Methods: After a partial brachial plexus injury caused complete paralysis of his right hand, the patient opted for transradial amputation. He subsequently underwent ulTSR, performed by plastic surgeon, Alexander Gardetto, MD, which involved rerouting sensory nerves to defined regions of the residual limb in order to reestablish a phantom limb map. This reinnervation was designed to facilitate improved prosthetic integration. The Adam’s Hand, a myoelectric prosthesis with AI-based pattern recognition, was selected for its compatibility with TSR and intuitive control. Outcomes were evaluated using the OPUS questionnaire, the DASH, and patient feedback. Results: ulTSR successfully restored meaningful sensory input, allowing intuitive and precise control of the prosthesis, with minimal cognitive and muscular effort. The patient regained the ability to perform numerous activities of daily living such as dressing, eating, lifting, and fine motor tasks—which had been impossible for over 15 years. OPUS results demonstrated significant improvements in both function and satisfaction. Conclusions: This case highlights the synergistic benefits of combining ulTSR with user-centered prosthetic technology. Surgical neurorehabilitation, paired with advanced prosthetic design, led to marked improvements in autonomy, performance, and quality of life in a high-performance amputee athlete. Full article

The unique properties present great prospects for polymeric ionic liquids (PILs) research in these areas, where progress and breakthrough technologies can be expected in the coming years. This brief review examines the latest work (2024–2025) and the prospects for using PILs as an effective component of sensor-related devices for medical or biological applications. Potentially, the PILs-based sensors can detect various movements in real time, which are necessary for high-performance wearable sensor platforms. The artificial electronic skin demonstrates high potential not only as a recording of body signals, but also as an effective wound dressing. The polymer actuators with PILs are indispensable in many applications. Full article

The treatment of chronic wounds and pressure sores is an important challenge in the context of public health and the effectiveness of patient treatment. Therefore, new methods are being developed to reduce or, in extreme cases, to initiate and conduct the wound healing process. This article presents an innovative smart bandage, programmable using a smartphone, which generates small amplitude impulse vibrations. The communication between the smart bandage and the smartphone is realized using BLE. The possibility of programming the smart bandage allows for personalized therapy. Owing to the built-in MEMS sensor, the smart bandage makes it possible to monitor work during rehabilitation and implement an auto-calibration procedure. The flexible, openwork mechanical structure of the dressing was made in 3D printing technology, thanks to which the solution is easy to implement and can be used together with traditional dressings to create hybrid ones. Miniature electronic circuits and actuators controlled by the PWM signal were designed as replaceable elements; thus, the openwork structure can be treated as single-use. The smart bandage containing six actuators presented in this article generates oscillations in the range from about 40 Hz to 190 Hz. The system generates low-amplitude vibrations, below 1 g. The actuators were operated at a voltage of 1.65 V to reduce energy consumption. For comparison, the actuators were also operated at the nominal voltage of 3.17 V, as specified by the manufacturer. Full article

Wound care in military and combat environments poses distinct challenges that set it apart from conventional medical practice in civilian settings. The nature of injuries sustained on the battlefield—often complex, contaminated, and involving extensive tissue damage—combined with limited access to immediate medical intervention, significantly increases the risk of infection, delayed healing, and adverse outcomes. Traditional wound dressings frequently prove inadequate under such extreme conditions, as they have not been designed to address the specific physiological and logistical constraints present during armed conflicts. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress in the development of advanced wound dressings tailored for use in military scenarios. Special attention has been given to multifunctional dressings that go beyond basic wound coverage by incorporating biologically active macromolecules such as collagen, chitosan, thrombin, alginate, therapeutic peptides, and growth factors. These compounds contribute to properties including moisture balance control, exudate absorption, microbial entrapment, and protection against secondary infection. This review highlights the critical role of advanced wound dressings in improving medical outcomes for injured military personnel. The potential of these technologies to reduce complications, enhance healing rates, and ultimately save lives underscores their growing importance in modern battlefield medicine. Full article

Marine biomass represents a valuable yet underexploited resource for the development of high-value biomaterials. Recent advances have highlighted the significant potential of marine-derived polysaccharides, proteins, and peptides in biomedical applications, most notably in drug delivery and wound healing. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of current research on the extraction, processing and pharmaceutical valorization of these biopolymers, with a focus on their structural and functional properties that allow these materials to be engineered into nanocarriers, hydrogels, scaffolds, and smart composites. Key fabrication strategies such as ionic gelation, desolvation, and 3D bioprinting are critically examined for their role in drug encapsulation, release modulation, and scaffold design for regenerative therapies. The review also covers preclinical validation, scale-up challenges, and relevant regulatory frameworks, offering a practical roadmap from sustainable sourcing to clinical application. Special attention is given to emerging technologies, including stimuli-responsive biomaterials and biosensor-integrated wound dressings, as well as to the ethical and environmental implications of marine biopolymer sourcing. By integrating materials science, pharmaceutical technology and regulatory insight, this review aims to provide a multidisciplinary perspective for researchers and industrial stakeholders seeking sustainable and multifunctional pharmaceutical platforms for precision medicine and regenerative therapeutics. Full article

Type I collagen is a major protein in animals, and its hydrolyzed products, collagen peptides, have wide-ranging applications. This article reviews collagen peptides’ preparation methods, biological activities, and application progress in the fields of food, cosmetics, and medicine. By employing various extraction and hydrolysis methods, collagen peptides with different molecular weights can be obtained, and their biological activities are closely related to their molecular weight and amino acid sequence. Studies have revealed that collagen peptides possess a variety of biological activities, including antioxidant, hematopoietic promotion, osteogenic differentiation promotion, antihypertensive, and anti-diabetic effects. In the food industry, their antioxidant and hypoglycemic properties have opened new avenues for the development of healthy foods; in the cosmetics field, the moisturizing, anti-aging, and repair functions of collagen peptides are favored by consumers; in the medical field, collagen peptides are used in wound dressings, drug carriers, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Looking to the future, the development of green and efficient preparation technologies for collagen peptides and in-depth research into the relationship between their structure and function will be important research directions. The multifunctional properties of collagen peptides provide a broad prospect for their further application in the health industry. Full article

Chronic wounds present clinical challenges due to persistent inflammation, infection, and dysregulated tissue repair, often exacerbated by the passive nature of conventional wound dressings. Recent advancements in hydrogel-based wearable technologies have transformed these biomaterials into multifunctional platforms capable of integrating real-time monitoring and targeted therapy, ushering in a new era of intelligent wound care. In this review, we show innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, including wound-monitoring devices and multifunctional healing-promoted platforms, highlighting integrated closed-loop systems that dynamically adapt treatments to wound microenvironments, thus merging diagnostics and therapeutics. Challenges in fabrication engineering and clinical application are discussed, alongside emerging trends like AI-driven analytics and 3D-bioprinted technology. By bridging fragmented research, this work underscores the potential of hydrogels to enable intelligent wound management. Full article

Skin is the first line of defence between the human body and the outside world, and it is constantly exposed to external injuries and wounds for a variety of reasons. Collagen is a structural protein of the extracellular matrix and an important component of the dermis. As a wound dressing, collagen not only provides nutrients to wounds but also enhances the immune response in the pre-healing phase, making it an excellent biomaterial for healing. In this study, we used electrospinning and freeze-drying technology to prepare a Bovine Achilles Tendon Collagen (BATC) electrospun composite membrane and a BATC freeze-dried composite membrane using BATC as a substrate supplemented with 16.7% Polyethylene oxide (PEO) and 0.2% Kukoamine B (KuB). The physicochemical properties and biocompatibility of the BATC composite membrane were verified via scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and DSC analysis and by measuring the DPPH radical-scavenging capacity, water absorption, water retention, in vitro drug release, and extract cytotoxicity. The BATC composite membrane was found to have a significant effect on skin wound healing, especially in the middle stage of healing, in a mouse full-thickness skin injury model. The BATC/PEO/KuB electrospun composite membrane (EBPK) had the best capacity for promoting wound healing and can be used as a wound dressing for in-depth research and development, and KuB, a monomer component with a clear structure and mechanism of action, can be used as a candidate component of composite dressings. Full article

Wound healing remains a significant hurdle within the field of medical practice, especially concerning chronic and non-healing injuries. Conventional interventions, such as skin grafts, wound dressings, and biomaterials, offer structural support for the regenerated tissues but often lack the biological signaling cues essential for tissue regeneration. However, these approaches often lack the biological signals necessary to promote effective tissue repair. An emerging strategy involves incorporating cell-secreted proteins, known as the secretome, into biomaterials. The secretome contains bioactive elements such as cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular vesicles (EVs), which enhance the wound healing process. This review explores the potential of secretome-loaded biomaterials in modulating inflammation, promoting angiogenesis, and assisting in the remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Recent advancements in biomaterial engineering technology, such as 3-dimensional (3D) bioprinting, have improved the controlled delivery and bioactivity of secretome at the wound site. These gel-based biomaterials enhance wound healing by providing sustained bioactive molecule release, improving cell growth, and tissue repair. Despite these promising outcomes, limitations including variations in secretome composition and difficulties in large-scale production. Hence, secretome-loaded biomaterials offer a promising solution for wound healing, but further research is needed to optimize formulations, ensure stability, and validate clinical applications. Full article

Background/Objectives: Pediatric skin injuries represent a clinical challenge, especially in cases with complex etiology or with severe pain. Blue light is an emerging technology with potential application in pediatric wound care. The aim of this case series was to describe the clinical use of blue light in pediatric patients with injuries of varying etiologies and mechanisms, and to assess its long-term effectiveness and sustainability in treatment. Methods: Twelve hospitalized pediatric patients (0–12 years old) with skin injuries were included in this case series. The etiologies of wounds treated with photobiomodulation were incontinence-associated dermatitis, peristomal injuries, and pressure injuries. The injuries were assessed using specific classification tools and pain scales. The wounds were treated every three days using a medical device that emits blue light (410–430 nm). When necessary, wounds were also treated with appropriate dressings. Results: All injuries responded positively to photobiomodulation therapy and showed a rapid resolution of inflammation. Complete wound resolution was achieved in 11 of 12 cases. The average healing time was 3.7 days. Four injuries achieved resolution with only one application of blue light. Scores from the pain perception scales showed that the blue light treatment was well tolerated by pediatric patients, showing high parental compliance. No side effects or adverse events were observed. Conclusions: Blue light photobiomodulation proved to be a safe, well-tolerated, and effective technology in the treatment of pediatric skin injuries, with good acceptance by young patients and families. More structured clinical trials would be needed to validate the efficacy of blue light in pediatric injuries. Full article

Wound healing is a complex, tightly regulated process essential for maintaining skin barrier function. Chronic wounds, often complicated by biofilm-forming bacteria and elevated oxidative stress, pose significant challenges in clinical management. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has further exacerbated the problem, limiting therapeutic options and complicating wound treatment. Traditional wound care approaches frequently fail to provide real-time accurate insights into wound status, leading to delayed or suboptimal treatments. Recent advancements in modern and smart wound dressings, which integrate various biosensors, different new drug delivery systems, and wireless communication technology, offers promising solutions for monitoring wound progression over time. These innovations enable early detection of adverse events such as bacterial infections and inflammation, facilitating more effective, on-demand treatment. This review highlights the current state of antibiotic-embedded wound dressings, discusses their limitations, and explores the potential of next-generation wound dressings incorporating microelectronic sensors for real-time monitoring and adaptive therapeutic responses to support healing and combat antimicrobial resistance. Full article

Entangled multiphoton is an ideal resource for quantum information technology. Here, narrow-bandwidth hyper-entangled quadphoton is theoretically demonstrated by quantizing degenerate Zeeman sub states through spontaneous eight-wave mixing (EWM) in a hot ⁸⁵Rb. Polarization-based energy-time entanglement (output) under multiple polarized dressings is presented in detail with uncorrelated photons and Raman scattering suppressed. High-dimensional entanglement is contrived by passive non-Hermitian characteristic, and EWM-based quadphoton is genuine quadphoton with quadripartite entanglement. High quadphoton production rate is achieved from co-action of four strong input fields, and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) slow light effect. Atomic passive non-Hermitian characteristic provides the system with acute coherent tunability around exceptional points (EPs). The results unveil multiple coherent channels (~8) inducing oscillations with multiple periods (~19) in quantum correlations, and high-dimensional (~8) four-body entangled quantum network (capacity ~65536). Coexistent hyper and high-dimensional entanglements facilitate high quantum information capacity. The system can be converted among three working states under regulating passive non-Hermitian characteristic via triple polarized dressing. The research provides a promising approach for applying hyper-entangled multiphoton to tunable quantum networks with high information capacity, whose multi-partite entanglement and multiple-degree-of-freedom properties help optimize the accuracy of quantum sensors. Full article

(1) Background: The increasing prevalence of chronic wounds, along with their significant healthcare burden, underscores the need for innovative and technologically advanced treatment strategies. Electrospun nanofiber-based dressings have emerged as a promising solution, mimicking the skin’s extracellular matrix and promoting efficient tissue regeneration. (2) Methods: This real-world, 10-month observational study conducted at CF Oradea Clinical Hospital enrolled 60 patients with chronic, non-healing wounds. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: 30 received standard vacuum-assisted wound therapy, serving as the control group. In contrast, 30 received treatment with Spincare™, a novel electrospinning technology that delivers a personalized nanofiber matrix directly onto the wound. Symptom progression, pain levels, and treatment adaptation were assessed using standardized questionnaires. (3) Results: Patients treated with Spincare™ demonstrated faster wound healing, especially in the epithelialization phase, with significantly improved pain scores and quality of life measures. The technology was well-tolerated and reduced the need for repeated hospitalizations. (4) Conclusions: Spincare™ represents an effective and innovative electrospun nanofiber solution for chronic wound management, accelerating healing and enhancing patient outcomes, particularly in individuals with underlying conditions such as peripheral arterial disease. These findings support the integration of electrospinning-based therapies in modern wound care protocols. Full article

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are among the most common and debilitating complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), affecting approximately 15–25% of patients and contributing to over 85% of non-traumatic amputations. DFUs impose a substantial clinical and economic burden due to high recurrence rates, prolonged wound care, and frequent hospitalizations, accounting for billions in healthcare costs worldwide. The multifactorial pathophysiology of DFUs involves peripheral neuropathy, peripheral arterial disease, chronic inflammation, and impaired tissue regeneration. Recent studies underscore the importance of immune dysregulation—specifically macrophage polarization imbalance, regulatory T cell dysfunction, and neutrophil impairment—as central mechanisms in wound chronicity. These immune disruptions sustain a pro-inflammatory environment dominated by cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, which impair angiogenesis and delay repair. This review provides an updated synthesis of DFU pathogenesis, emphasizing immune dysfunction and its therapeutic implications. We examine emerging strategies in immunomodulation, regenerative medicine, and AI-based wound technologies, including SGLT2 inhibitors, biologics, stem cell therapies, and smart dressing systems. These approaches hold promise for accelerating healing, reducing amputation risk, and personalizing future DFU care. Full article

Rapid hemostasis and wound healing are crucial severe trauma treatment. Natural mechanisms often prove insufficient, spurring research for innovative biomaterials. This review focuses on cellulose-based materials, which are promising due to their absorbency, biocompatibility, and processability. The novelty lies in exploring how these materials promote clotting and tissue regeneration. They operate via extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms. Extrinsically, they create a matrix at the wound to activate coagulation; intrinsically, they maintain clotting factors. Additionally, they aid healing through physical, chemical, and biological means, such as maintaining moisture, incorporating antimicrobial agents, and stimulating cell activity. The innovative fabrication strategies include material selection and chemical modification. Techniques like oxidation enhance performance. Structural engineering methods like freeze-drying and 3D printing optimize porosity and alignment. Cellulose-based dressings are versatile and effective in various forms. They address different wound needs and show benefits like rapid coagulation and tissue repair. This review also covers challenges and future trends, emphasizing the need to enhance mechanical properties and biodegradability. Further, new technologies offer potential improvements to the nanocomposites. Overall, continued research on cellulose-based dressing is vital, and unlocking their potential could revolutionize wound care, providing suitable solutions for trauma management. Full article