title: Flexible pH-Sensing Hydrogel Fibers for Epidermal Applications.
abstract: Epidermal pH is an indication of the skin's physiological condition. For example, pH of wound can be correlated to angiogenesis, protease activity, bacterial infection, etc. Chronic nonhealing wounds are known to have an elevated alkaline environment, while healing process occurs more readily in an acidic environment. Thus, dermal patches capable of continuous pH measurement can be used as point-of-care systems for monitoring skin disorder and the wound healing process. Here, pH-responsive hydrogel fibers are presented that can be used for long-term monitoring of epidermal wound condition. pH-responsive dyes are loaded into mesoporous microparticles and incorporated into hydrogel fibers using a microfluidic spinning system. The fabricated pH-responsive microfibers are flexible and can create conformal contact with skin. The response of pH-sensitive fibers with different compositions and thicknesses are characterized. The suggested technique is scalable and can be used to fabricate hydrogel-based wound dressings with clinically relevant dimensions. Images of the pH-sensing fibers during real-time pH measurement can be captured with a smart phone camera for convenient readout on-site. Through image processing, a quantitative pH map of the hydrogel fibers and the underlying tissue can be extracted. The developed skin dressing can act as a point-of-care device for monitoring the wound healing process.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamayol
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, V8P 5C2, Canada.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akbari
authors.affiliation: Nanoscale Integrated Sensors and Circuits Laboratory (Nanolab), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zilberman
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Comotto
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Emal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lesha
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Serex
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, 20156, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bagherifard
authors.affiliation: Nanoscale Integrated Sensors and Circuits Laboratory (Nanolab), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Nanoscale Integrated Sensors and Circuits Laboratory (Nanolab), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Nanoscale Integrated Sensors and Circuits Laboratory (Nanolab), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Shideh Kabiri
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ameri
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Weitong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Eric L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Mehmet R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dokmeci
authors.affiliation: Nanoscale Integrated Sensors and Circuits Laboratory (Nanolab), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Sameer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sonkusale
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.|Department of Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21569, Saudi Arabia.|Department of Bioindustrial Technologies, College of Animal Bioscience and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khademhosseini
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D002122:Calcium Chloride / Q000737:chemistry; D002460:Cell Line; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy; D013552:Swine; D057968:Transdermal Patch; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020100:Hydrogels; D011091:Polyesters; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D002122:Calcium Chloride
keywords: hydrogel fibers; luminescence; microfluidic spinning; pH monitoring; wound healing