A multifunctional electronic suture for continuous strain monitoring and on-demand drug release

Abstract

Surgical sutures are widely used for closing wounds in skin. However, the monitoring of wound integrity and promoting tissue regeneration at the same time still remains a challenge. To address this, we developed a drug-releasing electronic suture system (DRESS) to monitor the suture integrity in real-time and enhance tissue regeneration by triggered drug release. DRESS was fabricated by using a single fiber with a core-shell structure consisting of a stretchable conductive fiber core and a thermoresponsive polymer shell containing drugs. The highly conductive fiber core acts as a strain sensor that enables continuous monitoring of suture strain with high sensitivity (a gauge factor of ∼686) and mechanical durability (being able to endure more than 3000 stretching cycles). The thermoresponsive shell layer composed of flexible poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) grafted onto poly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) facilitates on-demand drug release <i>via</i> Joule heating. The results of an <i>in vitro</i> scratch assay showed a 66% decrease in wound area upon heat-activation after 48 hours demonstrating the stimuli-responsive therapeutic efficacy of DRESS by promoting cell migration. Moreover, <i>ex vivo</i> testing on porcine skin demonstrated the applicability of DRESS as a electronic suture. The approach used for DRESS provides insight into multifunctional sutures and offers additional therapeutic and diagnostic options for clinical applications.