Advances in Wound Healing Systems

A special issue of Bioengineering (ISSN 2306-5354).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2018) | Viewed by 58613

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Santa Clara University, Department of Bioengineering, USA
Interests: Bioengineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioengineering therapeutics for wound healing research and product development range from gene therapy to soft robotics.

A simplified tri-fold classification of acellular, cellular and hybrid cover the breadth of solutions to ulcers, burns, soft tissue re-construction, wound closures, various forms of dermatitis, and rare genetic skin disorders. Acellular biomimetic approaches are comprised of multi-functional partially resorbable composite polymers, nanoparticles, cross-linkable hydrogels, or structural proteins of the dermis and collagen matrix extracts from mammalian source. Examples of cellular-based bioengineered therapies are injectable or immobilized human embryonic membrane cells and human keratinocyte progenitor cells (NIKS cells).  Hybrid solutions include but are not limited to devices such as the stem cell skin gun for burns (RenovaCare,Inc), Smart Skin substitutes based on stretchable electronics embedded with sensors and si-RNA/nanoparticle mediated molecular therapies for scarless wound healing.

In parallel, cutting-edge bio-fabrication and storage methods proposed at bench scale are 3D/4D printing of keratinocytes, photolithography/microfluidic synthesis for self-healing hydrogels, electro-spinning of nanofibers, and cryo/lyo-preservation.  

With the myriad of hybrid solutions heading towards the regulatory pipeline, robust scalability and patient heterogeneity need to be addressed. This Special Issue, "Advances in Wound Healing Systems", emphasizes state-of-the-art advances, as well as gaps between academia and large scale integration of wound healing therapeutics.

Therefore, any contributions related to the above-mentioned topics and applications are welcome.

The first round submission deadline: 31 January 2018

Prof. Dr. Maryam Mobed-Miremadi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • SMART skin substitutes

  • Genetically-enhanced skin substitutes

  • Stretchable electronics

  • Bio-fabrication

  • Cryo/Lyo preservation

  • In vitro tissue models

  • Autograft availability

  • Wound Imaging

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 4159 KiB  
Article
Three-Dimensional (3D) Printed Microneedles for Microencapsulated Cell Extrusion
by Chantell Farias, Roman Lyman, Cecilia Hemingway, Huong Chau, Anne Mahacek, Evangelia Bouzos and Maryam Mobed-Miremadi
Bioengineering 2018, 5(3), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering5030059 - 31 Jul 2018
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 9778
Abstract
Cell-hydrogel based therapies offer great promise for wound healing. The specific aim of this study was to assess the viability of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells immobilized in atomized alginate capsules (3.5% (w/v) alginate, d = 225 µm ± [...] Read more.
Cell-hydrogel based therapies offer great promise for wound healing. The specific aim of this study was to assess the viability of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells immobilized in atomized alginate capsules (3.5% (w/v) alginate, d = 225 µm ± 24.5 µm) post-extrusion through a three-dimensional (3D) printed methacrylate-based custom hollow microneedle assembly (circular array of 13 conical frusta) fabricated using stereolithography. With a jetting reliability of 80%, the solvent-sterilized device with a root mean square roughness of 158 nm at the extrusion nozzle tip (d = 325 μm) was operated at a flowrate of 12 mL/min. There was no significant difference between the viability of the sheared and control samples for extrusion times of 2 h (p = 0.14, α = 0.05) and 24 h (p = 0.5, α = 0.05) post-atomization. Factoring the increase in extrusion yield from 21.2% to 56.4% attributed to hydrogel bioerosion quantifiable by a loss in resilience from 5470 (J/m3) to 3250 (J/m3), there was no significant difference in percentage relative payload (p = 0.2628, α = 0.05) when extrusion occurred 24 h (12.2 ± 4.9%) when compared to 2 h (9.9 ± 2.8%) post-atomization. Results from this paper highlight the feasibility of encapsulated cell extrusion, specifically protection from shear, through a hollow microneedle assembly reported for the first time in literature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wound Healing Systems)
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11 pages, 6153 KiB  
Article
Topical Digitoxigenin for Wound Healing: A Feasibility Study
by Xinchi Feng, Cuifen Wang, Yunhui Xu, Joel Turley, Zijian Xie, Sandrine V. Pierre and Jinsong Hao
Bioengineering 2018, 5(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering5010021 - 05 Mar 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5940
Abstract
(1) Background: Cardiotonic steroids have been found to stimulate collagen synthesis and might be potential wound healing therapeutics. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of digitoxigenin and its topical formulation for wound healing; (2) Methods: In the in vitro [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Cardiotonic steroids have been found to stimulate collagen synthesis and might be potential wound healing therapeutics. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of digitoxigenin and its topical formulation for wound healing; (2) Methods: In the in vitro study, the human dermal fibroblast cells were treated with digitoxigenin and collagen synthesis was assessed. In the in vivo study, digitoxigenin was applied to excisional full-thickness wounds in rats immediately after wounding and remained for three days, and wound open was evaluated over 10 days. A digitoxigenin formulation for topical administration was prepared, and the in vitro release and in vivo wound healing effect were investigated; (3) Results: The expression of procollagen in human dermal fibroblast was significantly increased with the exposure to 0.1 nM digitoxigenin. Topical application of digitoxigenin in olive oil or alginate solution for three days significantly decreased the wound open in rats. Similarly, topical administration of the developed digitoxigenin formulation for three days also significantly increased wound healing. No wound healing effects were observed at days 7 and 10 after wounding when digitoxigenin was not applied; and, (4) Conclusions: It was possible to deliver digitoxigenin using the developed formulation. However, the wound healing effect of digitoxigenin and its mechanisms need to be further investigated in future studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wound Healing Systems)
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Review

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26 pages, 1171 KiB  
Review
Smart Wound Dressings for Diabetic Chronic Wounds
by Elizabeth Gianino, Craig Miller and Jordon Gilmore
Bioengineering 2018, 5(3), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering5030051 - 26 Jun 2018
Cited by 128 | Viewed by 17128
Abstract
Given their severity and non-healing nature, diabetic chronic wounds are a significant concern to the 30.3 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (2015). Peripheral arterial diseases, neuropathy, and infection contribute to the development of these wounds, which lead to an increased incidence of [...] Read more.
Given their severity and non-healing nature, diabetic chronic wounds are a significant concern to the 30.3 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (2015). Peripheral arterial diseases, neuropathy, and infection contribute to the development of these wounds, which lead to an increased incidence of lower extremity amputations. Early recognition, debridement, offloading, and controlling infection are imperative for timely treatment. However, wound characterization and treatment are highly subjective and based largely on the experience of the treating clinician. Many wound dressings have been designed to address particular clinical presentations, but a prescriptive method is lacking for identifying the particular state of chronic, non-healing wounds. The authors suggest that recent developments in wound dressings and biosensing may allow for the quantitative, real-time representation of the wound environment, including exudate levels, pathogen concentrations, and tissue regeneration. Development of such sensing capability could enable more strategic, personalized care at the onset of ulceration and limit the infection leading to amputation. This review presents an overview of the pathophysiology of diabetic chronic wounds, a brief summary of biomaterial wound dressing treatment options, and biosensor development for biomarker sensing in the wound environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wound Healing Systems)
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19 pages, 1410 KiB  
Review
Stem Cells and Engineered Scaffolds for Regenerative Wound Healing
by Biraja C. Dash, Zhenzhen Xu, Lawrence Lin, Andrew Koo, Sifon Ndon, Francois Berthiaume, Alan Dardik and Henry Hsia
Bioengineering 2018, 5(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering5010023 - 09 Mar 2018
Cited by 99 | Viewed by 11085
Abstract
The normal wound healing process involves a well-organized cascade of biological pathways and any failure in this process leads to wounds becoming chronic. Non-healing wounds are a burden on healthcare systems and set to increase with aging population and growing incidences of obesity [...] Read more.
The normal wound healing process involves a well-organized cascade of biological pathways and any failure in this process leads to wounds becoming chronic. Non-healing wounds are a burden on healthcare systems and set to increase with aging population and growing incidences of obesity and diabetes. Stem cell-based therapies have the potential to heal chronic wounds but have so far seen little success in the clinic. Current research has been focused on using polymeric biomaterial systems that can act as a niche for these stem cells to improve their survival and paracrine activity that would eventually promote wound healing. Furthermore, different modification strategies have been developed to improve stem cell survival and differentiation, ultimately promoting regenerative wound healing. This review focuses on advanced polymeric scaffolds that have been used to deliver stem cells and have been tested for their efficiency in preclinical animal models of wounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wound Healing Systems)
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28 pages, 2433 KiB  
Review
Electrospun Fibers as a Dressing Material for Drug and Biological Agent Delivery in Wound Healing Applications
by Mulugeta Gizaw, Jeffrey Thompson, Addison Faglie, Shih-Yu Lee, Pierre Neuenschwander and Shih-Feng Chou
Bioengineering 2018, 5(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering5010009 - 27 Jan 2018
Cited by 113 | Viewed by 13343
Abstract
Wound healing is a complex tissue regeneration process that promotes the growth of new tissue to provide the body with the necessary barrier from the outside environment. In the class of non-healing wounds, diabetic wounds, and ulcers, dressing materials that are available clinically [...] Read more.
Wound healing is a complex tissue regeneration process that promotes the growth of new tissue to provide the body with the necessary barrier from the outside environment. In the class of non-healing wounds, diabetic wounds, and ulcers, dressing materials that are available clinically (e.g., gels and creams) have demonstrated only a slow improvement with current available technologies. Among all available current technologies, electrospun fibers exhibit several characteristics that may provide novel replacement dressing materials for the above-mentioned wounds. Therefore, in this review, we focus on recent achievements in electrospun drug-eluting fibers for wound healing applications. In particular, we review drug release, including small molecule drugs, proteins and peptides, and gene vectors from electrospun fibers with respect to wound healing. Furthermore, we provide an overview on multifunctional dressing materials based on electrospun fibers, including those that are capable of achieving wound debridement and wound healing simultaneously as well as multi-drugs loading/types suitable for various stages of the healing process. Our review provides important and sufficient information to inform the field in development of fiber-based dressing materials for clinical treatment of non-healing wounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wound Healing Systems)
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