Self-powered electronics-free Wearable Disposable Electrotherapy (WDE) platform for accelerated wound healing
Electrical stimulation accelerates wound repair by modulating endogenous bioelectric signals that regulate inflammation, angiogenesis, extracellular matrix remodeling, and cellular responses within the wound microenvironment. However, clinical translation has been hindered by cumbersome devices with procedures that disrupt standard wound-care workflows, direct electrode contact with the wound bed, and/or limited stimulation output. Wearable Disposable Electrotherapy (WDE) integrates an electronics-free printed electrochemical architecture into an mm-thick patch that looks and is applied like a conventional bandage. The device is self- powered and delivers a single electrotherapy dose simply by application to the skin. Device dose-control (electrochemical performance) and efficacy were evaluated in a full-thickness excisional wound model in rats, compared with a sham device and a conventional Constant Current (CC) stimulator. WDE or control treatments were applied daily from day 1 through day 13, with endpoint evaluation on day 14. WDE delivered electrical stimulation comparable to CC while reducing the time required to achieve 50% wound closure by 2.08 days ([~]29%) relative to sham treatment. Histological and immunofluorescence analyses at day 14 demonstrated enhanced tissue remodeling, including increased collagen deposition ([~]25%), tissue cellularity ([~]73%), myofibroblast-associated SMA expression ([~]2.6-fold), angiogenesis-associated CD31 expression ([~]2.0-fold), and increased expression of both M2- (CD206, [~]2.0-fold) and M1- associated (iNOS, [~]1.7-fold) markers compared with sham. A novel cellular-resolution dosimetry model, leveraging charge-based boundary element method accelerated with the fast multipole method (BEM-FMM), provides a biophysical framework linking electrical stimulation with wound microenvironment and tissue repair mechanisms. Together, these findings establish WDE as a practical bioelectric wound dressing that accelerates wound healing and tissue remodeling, with the simplicity and scalability of disposable bandages.