ABSTRACT

Introduction

Chronic wounds are seen frequently in diabetic and bedbound patients. Such skin injuries, which do not heal in a timely fashion, can lead to life-threatening conditions. In an effort to resolve the burdens of chronic wounds, numerous investigations have explored the efficacy of various therapeutics on wound healing. Therapeutics can be topically delivered to cutaneous wounds to reduce the complications associated with systemic drug delivery because the compromised skin barrier is not expected to negatively affect drug distribution. However, researchers have recently demonstrated that the complex environment of chronic wounds could lower the localized availability of the applied therapeutics. Microneedle arrays (MNAs) can be exploited to enhance delivery efficiency and consequently improved healing.

Areas covered

In this review, we briefly describe the pathophysiology of chronic wounds and current treatment strategies. We further introduce methods and materials commonly used for the fabrication of MNAs. Subsequently, the studies demonstrating the benefits of MNAs in wound care are highlighted.

Expert opinion

Microneedles have great potential to treat the complicated pathophysiology of chronic wounds. Challenges that will need to be addressed include development of a robust chronic wound model and MNAs that combine complex functionality with simplicity of use.

中文翻译：

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用于治疗慢性伤口的微针阵列。

 抽象的

 介绍

慢性伤口常见于糖尿病患者和卧床不起的患者。这种皮肤损伤如果不能及时愈合，可能会导致危及生命的情况。为了解决慢性伤口的负担，大量研究探索了各种疗法对伤口愈合的功效。可以将治疗药物局部递送至皮肤伤口，以减少与全身药物递送相关的并发症，因为受损的皮肤屏障预计不会对药物分布产生负面影响。然而，研究人员最近证明，慢性伤口的复杂环境可能会降低所应用疗法的局部可用性。微针阵列 (MNA) 可用于提高输送效率，从而改善愈合。

 涵盖领域

在这篇综述中，我们简要描述了慢性伤口的病理生理学和当前的治疗策略。我们进一步介绍了 MNA 制造常用的方法和材料。随后，强调了证明 MNA 在伤口护理中的益处的研究。

 专家意见

微针在治疗慢性伤口复杂的病理生理学方面具有巨大的潜力。需要解决的挑战包括开发强大的慢性伤口模型和将复杂功能与简单使用相结合的 MNA。