From Fiber to Function: Evolution of Smart Textiles in Enhanced Skin Healing

Advancements in smart textiles, driven by materials science, medicine and textile engineering, are revolutionizing skin healing applications. These high-performance textiles, designed through polymer fibers with specialized chemical and physical properties, offer multifunctional capabilities, essential for effective skin wound management. Recent innovations include textiles that integrate stimuli-responsive materials and therapeutic agents, enhancing their functionality for topical treatments or transdermal delivery, as well as for regeneration therapies. Cutting-edge technologies, such as triboelectric nanogenerators and flexible microelectronic sensors, are being incorporated into textiles, aimed at enabling self-powered wound healing and real-time monitoring of the wound environment. This review explores the latest developments in various types of smart polymer textiles for skin therapies and outlines future directions for these technologies toward clinical applications.