Abstract Major challenges in traditional wound closure methods (e.g. using sutures and skin staplers) remain inadequately unaddressed; these invasive treatments induce extra puncture wounds, anesthetic side effects, and severe scarring. Herein, an oxidized starch/gelatin-based shape memory hydrogel (OSG) was fabricated as a self-contracting wound dressing to facilitate noninvasive wound closure. The self-contracting properties were attributed by introducing crosslink net-points in the hydrogel polymer structure through Schiff base reaction between oxidized starch (OS) and gelatin. We systematically investigated the self-contracting properties to determine the feasibility of the hydrogel to treat wounds and promote wound closure noninvasively. Following elongation, OSGs could be entirely fixed in a temporary shape at 4 °C, and then contracted under infrared irradiation (IR) for shape memory activation near human physiological temperature (38 °C), providing sufficient recovery force (4 kPa) for successful noninvasive wound closure. Additionally, H&E staining revealed that thicker epidermis and dermis layers were achieved upon OSG treatment, confirming that the OSG facilitated tissue reconstruction in an in vivo rabbit model. Moreover, the OSG-treated wounds displayed smoother skin and no visible scarring compared to sutured wounds. Such excellent performance suggests that OSG hydrogel exhibits high potential as an alternative to medical sutures to facilitate noninvasive would closure.

中文翻译：

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自收缩氧化淀粉/明胶水凝胶用于无创伤口闭合和伤口愈合

摘要 传统伤口闭合方法（例如使用缝合线和皮肤缝合器）的主要挑战仍未得到充分解决；这些侵入性治疗会导致额外的穿刺伤、麻醉剂副作用和严重的疤痕。在此，基于氧化淀粉/明胶的形状记忆水凝胶 (OSG) 被制造为自收缩伤口敷料，以促进无创伤口闭合。自收缩特性归因于通过氧化淀粉 (OS) 和明胶之间的席夫碱反应在水凝胶聚合物结构中引入交联净点。我们系统地研究了自收缩特性，以确定水凝胶在无创治疗伤口和促进伤口闭合方面的可行性。伸长后，OSG 可以在 4°C 下完全固定为临时形状，然后在红外辐射 (IR) 下收缩以在人体生理温度 (38 °C) 附近激活形状记忆，为成功的无创伤口闭合提供足够的恢复力 (4 kPa)。此外，H&E 染色显示在 OSG 处理后获得更厚的表皮和真皮层，证实 OSG 促进了体内兔模型中的组织重建。此外，与缝合伤口相比，OSG 处理的伤口表现出更光滑的皮肤，并且没有可见的疤痕。如此出色的性能表明 OSG 水凝胶作为医用缝合线的替代品表现出巨大的潜力，以促进无创缝合。为成功的无创伤口闭合提供足够的恢复力 (4 kPa)。此外，H&E 染色显示在 OSG 处理后获得更厚的表皮和真皮层，证实 OSG 促进了体内兔模型中的组织重建。此外，与缝合伤口相比，OSG 处理的伤口表现出更光滑的皮肤，没有明显的疤痕。如此出色的性能表明 OSG 水凝胶作为医用缝合线的替代品表现出巨大的潜力，以促进无创缝合。为成功的无创伤口闭合提供足够的恢复力 (4 kPa)。此外，H&E 染色显示在 OSG 处理后获得更厚的表皮和真皮层，证实 OSG 促进了体内兔模型中的组织重建。此外，与缝合伤口相比，OSG 处理的伤口表现出更光滑的皮肤，并且没有可见的疤痕。如此出色的性能表明 OSG 水凝胶作为医用缝合线的替代品表现出巨大的潜力，以促进无创缝合。与缝合伤口相比，OSG 处理的伤口表现出更光滑的皮肤，并且没有明显的疤痕。如此出色的性能表明 OSG 水凝胶作为医用缝合线的替代品表现出巨大的潜力，以促进无创缝合。与缝合伤口相比，OSG 处理的伤口表现出更光滑的皮肤，没有明显的疤痕。如此出色的性能表明 OSG 水凝胶作为医用缝合线的替代品表现出巨大的潜力，以促进无创缝合。