PLoS ONE (Jan 2024)

A bioelectronic device for electric field treatment of wounds reduces inflammation in an in vivo mouse model.

  • Cristian O Hernandez,
  • Hao-Chieh Hsieh,
  • Kan Zhu,
  • Houpu Li,
  • Hsin-Ya Yang,
  • Cynthia Recendez,
  • Narges Asefifeyzabadi,
  • Tiffany Nguyen,
  • Maryam Tebyani,
  • Prabhat Baniya,
  • Andrea Medina Lopez,
  • Moyasar A Alhamo,
  • Anthony Gallegos,
  • Cathleen Hsieh,
  • Alexie Barbee,
  • Jonathan Orozco,
  • Athena M Soulika,
  • Yao-Hui Sun,
  • Elham Aslankoohi,
  • Mircea Teodorescu,
  • Marcella Gomez,
  • Narges Norouzi,
  • Roslyn Rivkah Isseroff,
  • Min Zhao,
  • Marco Rolandi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303692
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 6
p. e0303692

Abstract

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Electrical signaling plays a crucial role in the cellular response to tissue injury in wound healing and an external electric field (EF) may expedite the healing process. Here, we have developed a standalone, wearable, and programmable electronic device to administer a well-controlled exogenous EF, aiming to accelerate wound healing in an in vivo mouse model to provide pre-clinical evidence. We monitored the healing process by assessing the re-epithelization rate and the ratio of M1/M2 macrophage phenotypes through histology staining. Following three days of treatment, the M1/M2 macrophage ratio decreased by 30.6% and the re-epithelization in the EF-treated wounds trended towards a non-statically significant 24.2% increase compared to the control. These findings provide point towards the effectiveness of the device in shortening the inflammatory phase by promoting reparative macrophages over inflammatory macrophages, and in speeding up re-epithelialization. Our wearable device supports the rationale for the application of programmed EFs for wound management in vivo and provides an exciting basis for further development of our technology based on the modulation of macrophages and inflammation to better wound healing.