UC Davis

The ability to deliver drugs with precise dosages at specific time points can significantly improve disease treatment while reducing side effects. Drug encapsulation for gradual delivery has opened the doors for a superior treatment regimen. To expand on this ability, programming bioelectronic devices to deliver small molecules enables ad-hoc personalized therapeutic profiles that are more complex than gradual release. Here, a wearable bioelectronic device with an integrated electrophoretic ion pump that affords on-demand drug delivery with precise dose control is introduced. Delivery of fluoxetine to wounds in mice result in a 27.2% decrease in the macrophage ratio (M1/M2) and a 39.9% increase in re-epithelialization, indicating a shorter inflammatory phase and faster overall healing. Programmable drug delivery using wearable bioelectronics in wounds introduces a broadly applicable strategy for the long-term delivery of a prescribed treatment regimen with minimal external intervention.