Smart Bandaid Integrated with Fully Textile OECT for Uric Acid Real-Time Monitoring in Wound Exudate

: Hard-to-heal wounds (i.e., severe and/or chronic) are typically associated with particular pathologies or afflictions such as diabetes, immunodeficiencies, compression traumas in bedridden people, skin grafts, or third-degree burns. In this situation, it is critical to constantly monitor the healing stages and the overall wound conditions to allow for better-targeted therapies and faster patient recovery. At the moment, this operation is performed by removing the bandages and visually inspecting the wound, putting the patient at risk of infection and disturbing the healing stages. Recently, new devices have been developed to address these issues by monitoring important biomarkers related to the wound health status, such as pH, moisture, etc. In this contribution, we present a novel textile chemical sensor exploiting an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) configuration based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) for uric acid (UA)-selective monitoring in wound exudate. The combination of special medical-grade textile materials provides a passive sampling system that enables the real-time and non-invasive analysis of wound fluid: UA was detected as a benchmark analyte to monitor the health status of wounds since it represents a relevant biomarker associated with infections or necrotization processes in human tissues. The sensors proved to reliably and reversibly detect UA concentration in synthetic wound exudate in the biologically relevant range of 220-750 μM, operating in flow conditions for better mimicking the real wound bed. This forerunner device paves the way for smart bandages integrated with real-time monitoring OECT-based sensors for wound-healing evaluation

Photophobia and migraine outcome during treatment with galcanezumab

BackgroundCalcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) plays a pivotal role in migraine physiology, not only regarding migraine pain but also associated symptoms such as photophobia. The aim of the present study was to assess monoclonal antibodies targeting CGRP efficacy not only in terms of headache and migraine frequency and disability but also in reducing ictal photophobia.Material and methodsThis is a retrospective observational study, conducted at the Headache Center–ASST Spedali Civili Brescia. All patients in monthly treatment with galcanezumab with at least a 6-month follow-up in September 2022 with reported severe photophobia during migraine attacks were included. Data regarding headache frequency, analgesics consumption, and migraine disability were collected quarterly. Moreover, patients were asked the following information regarding photophobia: (1) whether they noticed an improvement in photophobia during migraine attacks since galcanezumab introduction; (2) the degree of photophobia improvement (low, moderate, and high); and (3) timing photophobia improvement.ResultsForty-seven patients were enrolled in the present study as they met the inclusion criteria. Seventeen patients had a diagnosis of high-frequency episodic migraine and 30 of chronic migraine. From baseline to T3 and T6, a significant improvement in terms of headache days (19.2 ± 7.6 vs. 8.6 ± 6.8 vs. 7.7 ± 5.7; p < 0.0001), migraine days (10.4 ± 6.7 vs. 2.9 ± 4.3 vs. 3.6 ± 2.8; p < 0.0001), analgesics consumption (25.1 ± 28.2 vs. 7.6 ± 7.5 vs. 7.6 ± 8.1; p < 0.0001), MIDAS score (82.1 ± 48.4 vs. 21.6 ± 17.6 vs. 18.1 ± 20.5; p < 0.0001), and HIT-6 score (66.2 ± 6.2 vs. 57.2 ± 8.6 vs. 56.6 ± 7.6; p < 0.0001) was found. Thirty-two patients (68.1%) reported a significant improvement in ictal photophobia, with over half of the patients reporting it within the first month of treatment. Photophobia improvement was more frequent in patients with episodic migraine (p = 0.02) and triptans responders (p = 0.03).ConclusionsThe present study confirms previous reports regarding galcanezumab efficacy beyond migraine frequency. In particular, over 60% of patients, in our cohort, documented a significant improvement also in reducing ictal photophobia. This improvement was, in most patients, moderate to high, and within the first 6 months of treatment, regardless of the clinical response on migraine frequency

Determinazione gascromatografica di composti organici volatili (VOCs) in materiali per packaging sostenibile

Negli ultimi anni si osserva una richiesta sempre maggiore da parte del mercato di materiali più sostenibili dal punto di vista ambientale. Le aziende hanno quindi iniziato a studiare soluzioni alternative, tra queste l’impiego di materiali riciclati e biodegradabili. Nell’ambito degli imballaggi a contatto con alimenti risulta importante utilizzare materiali che non rilascino composti nel prodotto contenuto ed è quindi necessario poter controllare la presenza di sostanze volatili (VOCs) e semivolatili (SVOCs) legate alla materia prima e al processo produttivo. Per questo motivo, si è messo a punto un metodo di analisi dei composti volatili presenti in matrici di polietilene ad alta densità riciclato (r-HDPE) e polidrossialcanoati (PHA) tramite GC-MS preceduta da estrazione di VOCs in spazio di testa. Si sono poi confrontati i risultati ottenuti dalle analisi dei materiali di partenza con quelli ottenuti sui prodotti stampati a compressione, con lo scopo di capire se e come il processo produttivo potesse influire sul contenuto di analiti presenti nel campione. I risultati evidenziano come il profilo di volatili dell’HDPE riciclato sia strettamente collegato a quello dell’HDPE vergine (alcani lineari e ramificati) ma presenti composti aggiuntivi soltanto nei materiali riciclati. I VOCs caratteristici dei PHA sono invece aldeidi, alcoli e strutture ramificate con atomi di ossigeno sulla catena e risultano molto diversi a seconda della struttura del materiale considerato. È stato inoltre studiato per i PHA se, imponendo stress termico e meccanico a un campione, si formino nuovi composti in seguito a degradazione

Selective potentiodynamic detection with PEDOT:PSS based organic electrochemical transistors

Conventional electrochemical sensors rarely exhibit adequate robustness and analytical performances for real life applications, either due to the complexity of the real matrices, the small analytes concentration or the massive presence of interfering compounds. Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECTs) are devices, recently spread in the field of smart electronics, which are suitable for challenging sensing applications, especially thanks to intrinsic signal amplification. In this contribution, we describe the potentialities of a potentiodynamic technique applied to OECT based sensors to achieve improved analytical performances. When operating the OECT potentiodynamically, a linear scan of potential is applied at the gate (Vg) and the drain current (Id) is recorded, in analogy with the acquisition of transfer characteristics, and the transconductance (gm = ΔId/ΔVg) plot is then obtained. When a redox process involving the analyte affects the redox phenomena ruling the OECT, a peak appears whose position relates to the Vg at which the faradaic process takes place. This approach was exploited to selectively detect dopamine (DA) in a mixture containing uric and ascorbic acid (UA and AA, respectively), with overall performances comparable to those obtained with sophisticated electroanalytical techniques (Fig.1a).1 Furthermore, non-redox active species can be also detected with the potentiodynamic method. For instance, super-Nernstian pH sensing was carried out upon gate electrode functionalisation, and the shift of the gm peak was used as the analytical signal (Fig.1b).2 Among the most challenging analytical applications, vitamins detection in food products is commonly carried out using laboratory facilities like high-performance liquid chromatographs, which guarantee high selectivity and sensitivity. However, they also present several limitations such as time-consuming analysis, expensive equipment and laborious sample preparation. In contrast, electrochemical sensors are simple, cost-effective and easily miniaturized. In this regard, our research group has recently developed an OECT sensor exploiting the potentiodynamic approach to detect and distinguish lipophilic vitamins3. The sensor selectivity was optimized by studying a binary system including Vitamin A and Vitamin E. The device was capable of quantitatively determining Vitamin A concentration in commercial food fortifiers, with no sample pretreatment needed

Novel Textile Wearable Sensor for Uric Acid Monitoring in Wound Exudate

A major cause for the development of severe and/or chronic wounds is to be found in certain pathologies such as immunodeficiencies, diabetes, compression traumas in bedridden people and diabetes. Nowadays, wound health assessment is performed by removing the bandages and visually inspecting the injury, i.e. an operation that presents an intrinsic risk of infection and disturbance of the healing processes. Instead, for these afflictions it would be crucial to have a continuous and real-time insight regarding the wound health status, which provides the medical personnel with the ability to deliver targeted therapies, leading to a better and faster patient recovery. To address these issues, our research group has recently developed new devices to non-invasively monitor pH and moisture in wound exudate, as these two biomarkers are strongly correlated with wound health status. In this work we showcase a novel textile sensor base on an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) architecture based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) for uric acid (UA) monitoring in wound exudate, as UA levels can be correlated to infective and necrotic processes during the wound healing phases. This sensor is produced using special medical grade textile materials that provide a passive sampling system, enabling the continuous, real-time and non-invasive analysis of wound exudate to monitor wound health status. The devices are made by screen-printing a PEDOT:PSS-based conductive ink on medical gauzes, while the electrical connections are assembled by sewing conductive textile threads. UA was quantified by means of potentiostatic electrochemical techniques both in phosphate buffer solutions (PBS) and synthetic wound exudate (SWE) while operating in flow conditions using a HPLC pump at a flow rate of 0.05 mL/min to simulate the natural wound fluid emission. The sensors here developed proved to be capable to reversibly respond to variations in UA concentration within the biological range of interest for wound exudate (220 - 750 μM), displaying a normalized current response equal to a 47% signal variation per 10-fold increase in UA concentration (R2 = 0.98). The values obtained in PBS and SWE were found to be statistically comparable, as confirmed by a t-test (P = 0.95)

A Novel Textile Wearable OECT-Integrated Smart Bandaid for Real-Time Uric Acid Monitoring in Wound Exudate

Wound care is a constantly expanding field, as in the medical world new solutions are required to treat chronic and/or severe wounds, which derive from pathologies or conditions such as diabetes, third-degree burns, or skin grafts. Today, a preventive type of approach is usually followed for treatment, using materials such as antibacterial fibers or nanoparticles- loaded hydrogels, along with the visual inspection of the wound site upon bandage removal, e.g., an operation which carries an intrinsic risk of infection and disturbance of the wound bed healing process. To address these issues, we developed a novel smart bandaid1 featuring a fully textile Organic Electrochemical Transistor (OECT) based on the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) to monitor wound exudate uric acid levels (UA) in real-time, a crucial biomarker correlated with wound health status. The wearable devices were produced by screen-printing a PEDOT:PSS-based ink formulation on medical-grade gauzes, obtaining a smart medication with a passive sampling system, allowing for continuous, flow-conditions operativity. UA was quantified by means of potentiostatic determination, upon imposition of drain-source and gate-source voltage biases equal to -0.3 and +0.6 V, respectively. Different UA solution in Phosphate Buffer (PBS) or Synthetic Wound Exudate (SWE) were supplied using a HPLC pump at a flow-rate equal to 0.05 mL/min mimicking the natural emission of wound exudate. The devices reported a sensitivity equal to a 47% change in drain current for a 10-fold variation in UA concentration (R2 = 0.98) in both media, as statistically proven by performing a t-test (P = 0.95)