In skin wound repair, conventional methodologies have generally been impeded by inherent limitations of materials. Responsive design of biomaterials has yielded innovative solutions to this challenge. This systematic review aims to systematically summarize the design principles, application strategies, and clinical translational potential of physical stimulus-responsive biomaterials for skin wound repair, thereby providing a reliable reference for future research and clinical translation. This systematic review involved a comprehensive literature search across major biomedical and materials science databases, with clearly defined eligibility criteria. Studies focusing on physical stimulus-responsive biomaterials (including light, electrical, thermal, and mechanical stimulation) for skin repair were screened. When external physical stimuli such as light, electricity, temperature and mechanical force are applied to biological materials with stimulus-responsive properties, a synergistic effect will be observed. These responsive biomaterials offer exceptional non-invasiveness and intelligent regulation capabilities. They can adapt to either a single physical stimulus or synergistic combinations of multiple stimuli, thereby effectively activating cellular signaling pathways, remodeling the extracellular matrix, and modulating the local immune microenvironment. This review affords a systematic summary of the design principles of various physical stimulus-responsive biomaterials, specific application forms of these biomaterials in skin repair, and use of these biomaterials in addressing clinical needs. Thus, it offers a reference for related research and clinical translation of these biomaterials. • Physical stimulus-responsive biomaterials and their mechanisms for skin repair. • Design strategies: optimized structure, tailored morphology, adaptive function. • Clinical applications: acute and chronic trauma and functional cosmetic repair.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.