Research Projects

Advances in understanding wound healing mechanisms have driven the development of tailored dressings, with smart hydrogels gaining attention for their dynamic response to the wound environment. Integrating biosensors and stimuli-responsive materials, these systems enable not only protection but also active monitoring and therapy. This proposal introduces a dual-layer bioactive hydrogel. The bottom layer composed of sericin, alginate, and MgO nanoparticles promotes rapid hemostasis, antimicrobial activity, and anti-inflammatory effects, addressing key challenges like infection and bleeding in chronic wounds. The top layer, incorporating resazurin dye, serves as a diagnostic platform, detecting bacterial presence via a colorimetric change (blue to pink) for non-invasive, real-time infection monitoring. Despite their potential, smart dressings face challenges such as scalability, cost, mechanical fragility, cytotoxicity, allergenicity, and nanoparticle accumulation. Future designs may adopt self-healing via dynamic crosslinking (e.g., hydrogen bonding, Schiff base linkages) and injectable hydrogels with enhanced adhesion (mechanical interlocking, electrostatic interaction) to improve performance on irregular or dynamic wound sites. Looking forward, integrating wound monitoring with telemedicine and AI could revolutionize care. Smart hydrogels embedded with sensors could track parameters like temperature, pH, glucose, and infection markers, transmitting data to clinicians for AI-assisted, personalized treatment especially beneficial for remote areas. The proposed hydrogel aligns with this vision, combining therapeutic and diagnostic functions in a modular, scalable system. Its performance will be evaluated through: • Hemostatic and antimicrobial tests (S. aureus, E. coli) • Resazurin colorimetric detection via UV-Vis (570/600 nm) • Biocompatibility (live/dead assays) • Biodegradability under physiological conditions • Structural analysis (SEM, FTIR, mechanical tests) • In vitro assays (scratch, swelling, protein adsorption) • In vivo wound healing in animal models The anticipated outcome is a multifunctional, smart dressing that simplifies chronic wound care through combined treatment and real-time monitoring, with strong potential for clinical translation.