Innovative therapies for diabetic foot ulcers: Application and prospects of smart dressings

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), as one of the most severe complications of diabetes mellitus, have emerged as a critical global public health challenge due to their high incidence, refractory nature, and serious adverse outcomes. Clinical evidence demonstrates that while conventional therapies-including wound debridement, pharmacological treatment, and surgical intervention-can partially improve wound healing, they remain limited by suboptimal efficacy and high complication rates. In recent years, breakthroughs in smart dressing technology, enabled by advanced materials and biosensing innovations, have provided transformative solutions to this clinical dilemma. This review systematically analyzes the pathological characteristics and therapeutic challenges of DFUs, with an in-depth examination of the inherent limitations of traditional dressings, particularly their functional simplicity and uncontrolled drug release profiles. Studies reveal that next-generation smart dressings, through the integration of microenvironment-responsive materials, multifunctional sensor systems, and programmable drug delivery platforms, achieve real-time monitoring and dynamic regulation of critical wound parameters, including temperature, pH, moisture levels, and inflammatory biomarkers. Notably, these advanced dressings intelligently modulate the release kinetics of therapeutic agents (e.g., antimicrobials and growth factors) in response to microenvironmental changes, thereby significantly enhancing treatment efficacy. Furthermore, the convergence of smart dressing technology with telemedicine and artificial intelligence is revolutionizing wound management toward precision, personalization, and intelligent care, offering novel clinical pathways for DFUs treatment. Looking ahead, interdisciplinary innovations spanning materials science, biomedical engineering, and information technology are expected to establish smart dressings as a groundbreaking therapeutic modality for improving DFUs outcomes.