Hydrocolloid-based OLED patch for enhanced wound-care photobiomodulation with wet-dressing

Advancements in technology have led to a diversification of wound treatment methods, offering new possibilities for enhancing patient care. Though laser and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) phototherapy are common, they are challenged for their downsides such as rigidity, bulkiness and overheating. However, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are recently in the limelight as a method of phototherapy that overcomes the existing shortcomings. A variety of wearable OLEDs have been developed using plastic substrates. These can provide phototherapy, but are not suitable for use in wounds where ooze forms. In this study, we report a platform combining OLEDs and hydrocolloid that accelerates wound healing, absorbs ooze, provides a moist environment to wound, and improves skin adhesion. This platform utilizes a proprietary planarization method to reduce the root-mean-square roughness (R_q) value to 0.844 nm, and the luminescence performance of the device is also at the same level as that of a glass substrate device. In addition, we confirmed in-vitro cell proliferation effect of up to 160% at a luminous intensity of 5 mW/cm², and experimentally demonstrated the moisture retention ability of hydrocolloid-based OLEDs for wounds in a pig skin model. This suggests that we have created an ehanced wound care platform.