Work

Multimodal smart suture for dynamic postoperative wound monitoring

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Postoperative wound management remains challenging, owing to the lack of tools for continuous, localized, and quantitative assessment of wound inflammation. To address this limitation, we advance a device-level integration strategy that enables localized multimodal monitoring within a suturable platform. We develop a multifunctional smart suture by engineering a metal-organic framework (MOF) layer onto a conductive thermoelectric (TE) fiber. This unique structure integrates bifunctional electrochemical and thermoelectric sensing on a single platform for real-time monitoring of wound healing dynamics. The precise deposition of metal organic framework layer is fabricated via atomic layer deposition, which provides a highly active interface for sensitive detection of physiologically relevant hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). This method features ultra-high sensitivity (8450 μA mM −1 cm −2 ) and a low detection limit (77.44 nM). Meanwhile, the TE fiber enables accurate local temperature monitoring with a sensitivity of 76.60 μV K −1 . The smart suture retains sufficient mechanical strength and supports biocompatibility and stable sensing performance for surgical suturing. By fusing multimodal sensing outputs with machine learning-assisted analysis, the system enables classification of inflammation-related states. Evaluated in rat wound models, the suture demonstrates the capability to monitor changes in local inflammatory responses under experimental conditions, highlighting its potential for advanced wound monitoring.

Source: Bioactive Materials

DOI: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.07.044