Claw-inspired microneedle patches with liquid metal encapsulation for accelerating incisional wound healing

Microneedles are providing an emerging strategy for promoting wound healing. Attempts to develop this technology tend to impart them with additional functions. Herein, inspired by the claws of eagles, we present a liquid metal (LM)-encapsulated microneedle patch by employing a top-down multiple-mold-guided photolithography method for incisional wound healing. The microneedle patch is composed of two tilted hydrogel parts and ventilatory gauze as the connection. Such microneedle tips form a claw-like clamping structure, enabling the patch to stick to the skin, fix the wounded area and avoid secondary dehiscence. As the embedded W-patterned LM connects the tips of each microneedle part and links the microneedle part to an external power source, the microneedle patch can provide a stable spatial electric field around the wounds, guide cell migration and accelerate wound healing. It is demonstrated that the microneedle patch can perform well in treating wounded SD rats. These results indicate that the present microneedle patch is practically valuable and may find various applications in wound-healing related biomedical fields.