Chronic Wounds Have Hope! Scientists Develop "Smart Sponge" That Actively Absorbs Inflammation to Speed Healing

Chronic wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers or skin lesions caused by circulatory diseases, are a major challenge for global healthcare systems, costing billions of dollars annually in medical resources. Now, a pioneering researcher named Börte Emiroglu is developing a revolutionary new product: a selective sponge-like hydrogel that actively reduces inflammatory signals and promotes wound healing.

This exciting research result has been published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials, offering hope for patients with long-term non-healing open wounds.

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"Smart Sponge": A Powerful Tool Against Chronic Inflammation

Many chronic wounds fail to heal for months or even years because the body gets trapped in an overactive inflammatory cycle: an exaggerated immune response prevents the wound from progressing to the regeneration stage.

Emiroglu’s solution targets this root cause. Together with her partner Apoorv Singh, she founded the startup Immunosponge, focusing on developing intelligent wound dressings that actively intervene in the healing process.

"We want to guide the wound out of the inflammatory state and provide the right signals for healing," Emiroglu explains. "We aim to help tissues signal that it’s time for regeneration."

At the core of this wound dressing is a particulate hydrogel. Emiroglu compares it to a "sponge," but not an ordinary kitchen sponge. "Imagine a sponge," she says, "a material with high absorbency. Technically, it consists of tiny gel particles invisible to the naked eye, called microgels. When assembled in large numbers, they form a soft, sponge-like structure."

This structure can be equipped with surface molecules called "ligands," which target and bind to specific signaling molecules. This gives the "sponge" the ability to distinguish between useful and harmful signals.

"We don’t want to absorb everything like a kitchen sponge; we need to selectively remove pro-inflammatory molecules that severely damage local tissues while initiating healing processes," Emiroglu emphasizes.

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