| Affiliation: | 1. Key Laboratory of Clinical and Medical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166 P. R. China
Innovative Centre for Flexible Devices (iFLEX), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798 Singapore;2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305 USA;3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208 USA;4. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research and State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361102 P. R. China;5. Innovative Centre for Flexible Devices (iFLEX), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798 Singapore;6. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanobiology Institute, Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech) National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore, 117576 Singapore;7. School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637459 Singapore |
| Abstract: | Bacterial infections remain a leading threat to global health because of the misuse of antibiotics and the rise in drug-resistant pathogens. Although several strategies such as photothermal therapy and magneto-thermal therapy can suppress bacterial infections, excessive heat often damages host cells and lengthens the healing time. Here, a localized thermal managing strategy, thermal-disrupting interface induced mitigation (TRIM), is reported, to minimize intercellular cohesion loss for accurate antibacterial therapy. The TRIM dressing film is composed of alternative microscale arrangement of heat-responsive hydrogel regions and mechanical support regions, which enables the surface microtopography to have a significant effect on disrupting bacterial colonization upon infrared irradiation. The regulation of the interfacial contact to the attached skin confines the produced heat and minimizes the risk of skin damage during thermoablation. Quantitative mechanobiology studies demonstrate the TRIM dressing film with a critical dimension for surface features plays a critical role in maintaining intercellular cohesion of the epidermis during photothermal therapy. Finally, endowing wound dressing with the TRIM effect via in vivo studies in S. aureus infected mice demonstrates a promising strategy for mitigating the side effects of photothermal therapy against a wide spectrum of bacterial infections, promoting future biointerface design for antibacterial therapy. |
