Stretchable Smart Dressing for Burn Wound Management: Enhanced Exudate Collection and Real-Time Strain-Insensitive Monitoring at Joint Sites

Burn wound management at articular sites remains a clinical challenge, requiring effective exudate control, infection prophylaxis, and maintenance of patient comfort amid continuous mechanical deformation. Conventional dressings often fail to adapt to the complex biomechanical motions of movable body parts and lack integrated capabilities for real-time monitoring of wound microenvironment parameters such as pH and temperature. To address these issues, we present a novel stretchable smart dressing that integrates rapid exudate absorption, real-time strain-insensitive monitoring of pH and temperature, and high biocompatibility for long-term use. The dressing features a carboxymethyl chitosan-chitosan-calcium alginate (CMC-CS-CA) hydrogel-based sponge with an exudate-absorbing swelling ratio of 914% and maintains high stretchability (up to 80% strain). Meanwhile, embedded sensors ensure continuous monitoring of wound conditions. The dressing has been validated on human joints and in vivo rabbit burn wound models, demonstrating superior absorption, flexibility, and monitoring capabilities compared to existing dressings. This technology promises to advance burn wound management by improving healing efficiency and offering enhanced patient comfort, with broad potential for future clinical applications in wearable medical devices.