Closed-Loop Responsive Smart Bandages for Dynamic Monitoring and Self-Regulated Antibacterial Therapy in Wound Healing

Abstract

Currently, smart wound management systems have garnered increasing attention. However, most existing strategies still rely on predefined stimuli or threshold-based mechanisms to trigger drug release, which are insufficient to feedback to the dynamic changes in infection status, and their independently designed sensing and therapeutic modules further limit functional integration and coordinated intervention. To address these challenges, this study presents a smart bandage system that integrates a closed-loop mechanism encompassing sensing, therapy intervention, and feedback. The system is built by embedding carbon dots (CDs) into metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) formed via Fe3+-carbenicillin (CARB) coordination, then immobilized on a cellulose nonwoven (CNW) to create a composite smart bandage. In the infection-induced acidic microenvironment, the bandage enables concurrent fluorescence recovery and CARB release, enabling real-time infection monitoring and potent antibacterial activity (>99.99%). As infection resolves, diminished bacterial activity raises local pH, thereby reducing CARB release through pH-responsive negative feedback. Mechanistic studies indicate that Fe3+ competitively coordinates between bacterial ligands and CDs, enabling coupled sensing and therapy. In a murine wound model, the bandage significantly accelerated wound healing, suppressed bacterial growth, and allowed visual tracking of infection severity. This work provides a novel strategy for an intelligent wound bandage with autonomous sensing and therapeutic functions.