Microstructured Electroceutical Fiber-Device for Inhibition of Bacterial Proliferation in Wounds

Abstract

Antibiotic-resistant infections caused by bacterial pathogens pose a serious threat to public health, hampering wound healing and causing significant morbidities worldwide. A biomedical fiber-device that functions as a drugless antiseptic is introduced as a solution to this problem. Through stitching, piercing, or topical application to the wound, this fiber slows down the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria, thereby reducing the risks associated with inflammation and inhibiting infections. The fiber's bacterial proliferation inhibition function is based on the galvanic effect, which disturbs bacterial quorum sensing. Detailed herein are the fiber design optimization, scalable fabrication approach, electrical function characterization, and antiseptic function verification in cultures of typical wound pathogens. Such a fiber—mechanically and environmentally resilient, insensitive to harsh storage conditions with nominally infinite shelf-life, resulting from machining rather than pharmacochemical fabrication— provides a cost-effective and widely available alternative to current antibiotic treatments of physical injury.