8.5.2025
Doctoral thesis on the use of multi-component bioactive hydrogel patches for wound management
M.Eng. Li Wang’s doctoral thesis in Pharmaceutical Development and Medical Technology will be put forth for public defence at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Åbo Akademi University.
The thesis is entitled Multi-component Bioactive Hydrogel Patches for Wound Management.
The public defence of the doctoral thesis takes place on 16 May 2025at 1PM in auditorium Argentum, Aurum, Henrikinkatu 2, Turku. You can also follow the defence online. Professor Jonathan Massera, Tampere University, Finland, will serve as opponent and Professor Hongbo Zhang, Åbo Akademi University, as custos.
Summary
Skin injuries caused by mechanical, chemical, or disease factors are inevitable in daily life, posing a severe challenge to modern healthcare systems. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop efficient wound repair methods, particularly strategies aimed at treating chronic wounds and infected wounds. In clinic, traditional wound dressings, such as gauze, bandages, and cotton balls, are commonly used to cover wounds. Although they can protect the wound and absorb some exudates, they typically lack potent antibacterial properties and other abilities like promoting angiogenesis. Moreover, local hypoxia, persistent inflammation, and bacterial infections would further impede the wound healing process, resulting in prolonged treatment durations and increased costs. Thus, it’s necessary to develop functional materials to overcome the limitations of conventional approaches and provide more effective solutions for hard-to-heal wounds.
In recent years, multi-component hydrogel patches have raised significant attention due to their excellent biocompatibility and customizable properties. These are constructed by incorporating bioactive components, such as biological extracts, cells, microalgae, or growth factors. The hydrogel system could ensure a moist environment, while enhancing the functionality (e.g., antibacterial properties, promotion of angiogenesis, or sustained oxygen supply), thereby making this kind of multifunctional system more effective in wound management.
In this thesis, Li Wang utilizes the designability of multi-component hydrogel patches to explore their roles in wound management.
Here Li Wang mainly focuses on three forms of hydrogel patches including microneedles (MNs), structural colour hydrogel microparticles, and microcapsules. In Paper I, stem cells were loaded on porous MNs to generate VEGF. In Paper II, by utilizing structural color hydrogel microparticles, antibacterial drugs and VEGF were wrapped in the microparticles to simultaneously inhibit infection and promote angiogenesis. Furthermore, to accommodate pathological environments, structural colour microparticles with dual physiological responsiveness were developed to intelligently regulate the release profile of drugs, further optimizing the wound healing process (Paper III). In the last work, Chlorella microcapsules were employed to continuously supply oxygen, thereby creating an improved microenvironment for cell proliferation and collagen deposition. Through in vivo and in vitro evaluations, the above hydrogel systems have demonstrated significant advantages in providing antibacterial property, promoting granulation tissue formation, and restoring skin function.
Li Wang was born in 1997. He can be reached by emai li.wang@abo.fi.
The doctoral thesis can be read online through the Doria publication archive.
There is no photo of the doctoral student.
Instructions for following the doctoral defence remotely:
To follow the defence, you need the Zoom software or the Google Chrome browser. You do not need to create a Zoom account to follow the defence. If you install the application, you participate by clicking on the meeting link, after which you should allow the link to open in the Zoom app.