Engineered Battery Powered Oxygen Gel Offers New Path to Preventing Amputations in Diabetic Patients

UC Riverside bioengineers have developed a battery powered oxygen gel to deliver oxygen to non healing wounds. This technology could drastically reduce amputations.

By: AXL Media

Published: Feb 23, 2026, 10:31 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from ScienceDaily

Mechanical Solutions for Biological Stagnation

Chronic wounds, defined as injuries that remain open for more than thirty days, represent a burgeoning global health crisis. According to reports from the University of California, Riverside, approximately 12 million people worldwide experience these persistent injuries annually, with 4.5 million cases occurring in the United States alone. For patients suffering from diabetes or age,related complications, the trajectory of these wounds frequently spirals toward infection and tissue necrosis. Statistics indicate that roughly twenty percent of individuals with chronic wounds eventually undergo amputation. The primary biological barrier to recovery is often identified as hypoxia, a condition where oxygen fails to reach the deep layers of damaged tissue, trapping the injury in a permanent state of inflammation.

Miniaturized Chemistry Fueling Tissue Repair

To address this fundamental failure in the healing process, bioengineers have developed a smart, self,oxygenating system that bypasses the limitations of traditional bandages. According to Iman Noshadi, an associate professor of bioengineering at UCR, the lack of a stable oxygen supply disrupts the four essential stages of healing, which are inflammation, vascularization, remodeling, and regeneration. The newly engineered gel is composed of water and a choline based liquid that is both biocompatible and antibacterial. When this soft, flexible material is paired with a small battery similar to those used in hearing aids, it functions as a miniature electrochemical device. By splitting water molecules, the system produces a steady flow of localized oxygen directly at the site of the injury.

Validating Recovery in High Risk Models

The technical design of the gel allows it to conform to the irregular shapes of deep wounds, filling gaps where oxygen levels are typically at their lowest. Unlike surface level treatments that provide only brief bursts of oxygen, this electrochemical patch can maintain a consistent delivery for up to a month. According to Prince David Okoro, a doctoral candidate at UCR, the device allows stalled wounds to resume a normal healing pattern by addressing the root cause of stagnation. In laboratory tests involving diabetic and elderly mice, the research team observed that wounds treated with the oxygenating patch closed within approximately...