A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis
Abstract Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that typically manifests in infancy and is characterized by dry, irritated skin. Here, we propose a self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis. The patch is composed...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Publishing Group
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Microsystems & Nanoengineering |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-025-01000-7 |
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| author | Shan Liang Shiwei Liu Zhihe Long Xiaojiao Li Qian Han Xianhao Wei Lili Xing Xinyu Xue Meihua Chen |
| author_facet | Shan Liang Shiwei Liu Zhihe Long Xiaojiao Li Qian Han Xianhao Wei Lili Xing Xinyu Xue Meihua Chen |
| author_sort | Shan Liang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that typically manifests in infancy and is characterized by dry, irritated skin. Here, we propose a self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis. The patch is composed of piezoelectric generator, hydration sensing unit, microneedle treatment module and flexible circuit. The piezoelectric PZT generator can achieve self-powering by harvesting mechanical energy from patient activities, allowing for long-term work of the system without external power sources. The hydration sensing unit can rapidly and accurately detect changes in skin hydration by estimating the thermal conductivity. Upon detecting abnormal skin hydration levels for 65 s, the treatment module is automatically activated, heating hyaluronic acid-based microneedles (~42 °C) to release dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DEX), thereby providing timely targeted therapy and moisturization to the affected area within minutes. Therapeutic results in mice model of atopic dermatitis demonstrate that our patch can effectively treat this skin disease, improving the epidermal thickness, IL-4, spleen size and mass. The system achieves closed-loop detection and treatment of atopic dermatitis without external intervention, offering a novel approach to managing skin disease and expanding the scope of self-powered biomedical engineering systems. A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch is designed for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis. The patch composes of piezoelectric generator, hydration sensing unit, microneedle treatment module, and flexible circuit. This integrated system achieves closed-loop detection and treatment of atopic dermatitis without external intervention, offering a novel approach to managing skin disease and expanding the scope of self-powered biomedical engineering systems |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c4d216f68aba45b98212f478d0e62c97 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2055-7434 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microsystems & Nanoengineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-c4d216f68aba45b98212f478d0e62c972025-08-20T03:44:01ZengNature Publishing GroupMicrosystems & Nanoengineering2055-74342025-08-0111111410.1038/s41378-025-01000-7A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitisShan Liang0Shiwei Liu1Zhihe Long2Xiaojiao Li3Qian Han4Xianhao Wei5Lili Xing6Xinyu Xue7Meihua Chen8School of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Breast, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaSchool of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaSchool of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaSchool of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaSchool of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaSchool of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaSchool of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Radiation Oncology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaAbstract Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that typically manifests in infancy and is characterized by dry, irritated skin. Here, we propose a self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis. The patch is composed of piezoelectric generator, hydration sensing unit, microneedle treatment module and flexible circuit. The piezoelectric PZT generator can achieve self-powering by harvesting mechanical energy from patient activities, allowing for long-term work of the system without external power sources. The hydration sensing unit can rapidly and accurately detect changes in skin hydration by estimating the thermal conductivity. Upon detecting abnormal skin hydration levels for 65 s, the treatment module is automatically activated, heating hyaluronic acid-based microneedles (~42 °C) to release dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DEX), thereby providing timely targeted therapy and moisturization to the affected area within minutes. Therapeutic results in mice model of atopic dermatitis demonstrate that our patch can effectively treat this skin disease, improving the epidermal thickness, IL-4, spleen size and mass. The system achieves closed-loop detection and treatment of atopic dermatitis without external intervention, offering a novel approach to managing skin disease and expanding the scope of self-powered biomedical engineering systems. A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch is designed for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis. The patch composes of piezoelectric generator, hydration sensing unit, microneedle treatment module, and flexible circuit. This integrated system achieves closed-loop detection and treatment of atopic dermatitis without external intervention, offering a novel approach to managing skin disease and expanding the scope of self-powered biomedical engineering systemshttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-025-01000-7 |
| spellingShingle | Shan Liang Shiwei Liu Zhihe Long Xiaojiao Li Qian Han Xianhao Wei Lili Xing Xinyu Xue Meihua Chen A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis Microsystems & Nanoengineering |
| title | A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis |
| title_full | A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis |
| title_fullStr | A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis |
| title_full_unstemmed | A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis |
| title_short | A self-powered hydration-monitoring and drug-delivery skin patch for closed-loop treatment of atopic dermatitis |
| title_sort | self powered hydration monitoring and drug delivery skin patch for closed loop treatment of atopic dermatitis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-025-01000-7 |
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