Wearable electroceuticals are emerging as a key platform for health management due to their safety and non-invasiveness, with therapeutic efficacy enhanced by close skin contact. In this study, we present a wearable organic light-emitting diode (OLED) patch that integrates flexible hardware and a flexible battery for self-operation and reusability. The OLED exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility, adhering intimately to the skin while maintaining a safe temperature range of 20 °C at 5 mW/cm², stable operation for over 1000 h, and high moisture resistance. Daily irradiation with 632 nm OLED light (9 J/cm²) in mouse models of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD) led to significant recovery of epidermal thickness and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) to near-normal levels. The expression of inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-17, and IL-22) also tended to be suppressed. These results suggest that wearable OLED-based phototherapy can complement the limitations of existing treatments and offer a self-administered treatment strategy.

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.

Currently, there is growing interest in non-antibiotic treatments due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Moreover, photodynamic therapy is advantageous as it is non-invasive and does not lead to resistance development. Unlike traditional light therapy platforms, such as light amplification by stimulated emission of radiations (LASERs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs) are lightweight, flexible, and compact, enabling real-time treatment in everyday life. Additionally, as a surface-emitting light source, OLEDs deliver a uniform treatment effect over a large area. In this study, we explored the synergistic effect on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) using a natural non-antibiotic material, Sanguisorba officinalis L. extract solution (SO. L.), and 465 nm peak patchable OLEDs depending on both irradiation time and light source area at an intensity of 17 mW/cm². The results confirmed that antibacterial activity increased with light exposure to SO. L., and further increased as the area of the surface light source expanded. Moreover, the effect was noted with another natural non-antibiotic material. This study validated the non-antibiotic treatment using antibacterial synergistic activity between natural antibacterial phytochemicals and OLEDs and its free-standing antibacterial activity against antibiotic resistance in S. aureus.