Menaga S, Sushma Kumari
A delay in wound healing significantly impacts a patient's quality of life. Although numerous materials have been developed for healing strategies, there remains a need to create a patient-friendly, patient-specific, and biocompatible product for the market. Biopolymer-based hydrogel dressings significantly influence wound healing by mimicking the extracellular matrix, promoting cell growth, regulating moisture levels, and preventing infection. In this study, biopolymers such as κ-carrageenan (κ-Ca) and gelatin (Gel) were chemically modified with methacrylic anhydride (MA) to produce photocurable κ-carrageenan methacrylate (κ-Ca-MA) and gelatin methacrylate (Gel-MA). A hydrogel patch was subsequently fabricated using visible-light photocrosslinking for wound-healing applications. The fabricated photocrosslinked composite hydrogel patch (PCHP) was comprehensively characterized with respect to its morphological structure, swelling, degradation behavior, and viscoelastic properties. The fabricated PCHP demonstrated gel-like behavior, good stability, and shear-thinning properties. Compression testing on PCHP revealed a compressive modulus of 234-239 kPa, demonstrating adequate mechanical integrity for wound-site application. Additionally, antibiotic-loaded PCHPs demonstrated slow, sustained antibiotic release with efficient bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as notable radical-scavenging activity. Scratch assays demonstrated effective promotion of wound healing through enhanced cell migration, resulting in complete wound closure within 24 h. NIH3T3 fibroblasts cultured on PCHPs showed greater than 95% viability and cell proliferation over 5 days. Furthermore, κ-Ca-MA- and Gel-MA-based hydrogels were suitable for 3D printing in a layer-by-layer manner using digital light processing (DLP), highlighting their potential for advanced biomedical applications. Therefore, the visible-light photocrosslinking approach enables the creation of a multifunctional product for wound-healing applications, thereby improving patients' quality of life.