Intelligent Wound Dressing Controls Inflammation

Börte Emiroglu's academic career has taken her from Turkey to Zurich, after a master's degree, and straight into the interdisciplinary world of biomedical engineering at ETH Zurich. "Back then, I didn't even know what a hydrogel was," she recalls, thinking back to the early days of her doctoral research at the Macromolecular Engineering Laboratory under the supervision of Professor Mark Tibbitt.

But the unknown was precisely what fascinated her, and it was this that became the launchpad for a new technology. Emiroglu's goal was to develop an intelligent wound dressing that could actively influence the healing process in chronic wounds. Her solution is based on granular hydrogels that capture pro-inflammatory signals from the tissue while simultaneously supporting regenerative processes.

Chronic wounds - such as those associated with diabetes or circulatory disorders - are a widespread medical problem. Many sufferers have open skin lesions that barely heal for months or even years. This is often due to an exaggerated immune response: instead of progressing to regeneration, the body remains trapped in a continuous loop of overactive inflammatory activity.

This is where start-up Immunosponge found its unique value, founded by Emiroglu and Apoorv Singh, a fellow researcher in Tibbitts's laboratory. Their wound dressing targets the molecular signals that perpetuate the loop. "We want to guide a wound out of the inflammatory state and give it the right instructions for healing," says Emiroglu. "We want to aid the tissue to signal that now is the time for regeneration."

Like a sponge, but with much more precision

How exactly does the wound dressing work? "Imagine a sponge," says Emiroglu, "a material with a high absorption capacity." Technically speaking, the sponge consists of tiny gel particles - known as microgels - that are invisible to the naked eye. When combined in large numbers, they create a soft, sponge-like structure. "In the laboratory, the material looks like jelly," explains Emiroglu.

This structure can be equipped with so-called ligands - surface molecules that target and bind specific signalling molecules. This enables the sponge to distinguish between useful and harmful signals. "We don't want to just absorb anything and everything, like a kitchen sponge does; we need to selectively remove the pro-inflammatory molecules that wreak havoc in the local tissue, while at the same time initiating processes that promote healing," says Emiroglu.

The concept is heavily inspired by nature. "Mass transport is efficient at short distances in nature, especially in unicellular organisms," explains the researcher. "But as soon as more complex organisms arise, there is a need for structures that organise the exchange of matter more efficiently - this is how cells within a tissue function and communicate with each other." It is precisely these principles that inspired Emiroglu and served as a model for the intelligent wound dressing.

The technology relies on lots of small building blocks to create an adaptable, functional structure. "We are able to expand this library of building blocks which in the future will allow us to customise our technology for various patient groups and underlying diseases," says Emiroglu. That means they can equip the gel beads with various other surface ligands so that different inflammatory messengers can be captured depending on the type of tissue defect.

Applications beyond wound healing

While the researchers are currently focusing on chronic skin wounds, the technology could also help with internal tissue damage, such as in the healing of bones, cartilage or tendons. "These tissues can have limited blood supply that thus often require efficient mass exchange during regeneration," explains Emiroglu.

In contrast to current methods, such as mechanical suction devices or non-specific wound dressings, which dry out a wound completely, Emiroglu's wound dressing targets a root cause and is intended to be used at an early stage.

The young researcher did not set out to enter the world of business. It was only towards the end of her dissertation that she and co-founder Singh began to think about taking the project one step further. Emiroglu officially began her Pioneer Fellowship at ETH Zurich at the start of April 2025.

Unofficially, she has been working on the translation of the technology for over a year. A job that involves much more than conducting research in the lab: "We're learning how the market works, what clinicians need and how we can turn our research into an effective product," explains Emiroglu.

This is also changing her perspective. "We come from a pure research background, where we rarely come into contact with users," she says. "Now, we're talking to doctors, nurses, market leaders and other professionals and getting to know their point of view."

Emiroglu states: "We are deliberately taking our time with the development. It's not about getting something onto the market as quickly as possible; it's about creating something with long-term value."

And in five or ten years? "Maybe by then we'll have a market-ready solution with our start-up Immunosponge," she says. "Maybe we'll still be working on development. The important thing is to stay open, keep learning and not give up."

Creativity in the kitchen

Despite her busy schedule, Emiroglu still finds time to balance her research and her personal life. She is well aware that her Pioneer Fellowship is not a nine-to-five job and that she will have to invest a lot of time. "As long as you find meaning in what you do, it doesn't feel like a burden," says Emiroglu. In her free time, she likes to unwind by cooking. "I enjoy cooking for guests and seeing the joy on their faces." Just as she finds joy in creating something that brings happiness to others, Emiroglu is working toward a future where chronic wound care is not just about managing symptoms, but about fundamentally improving patients' quality of life.