What is HealHue?
HealHue is a revolutionary wound care dressing designed to transform how we approach healing. By combining advanced materials science with patient-centered innovation, HealHue provides a comprehensive solution to the challenges in wound care. Its multi-layered design promotes faster healing, prevents infections, and reduces environmental waste.
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HealHue is the future.
The dressing is composed of multiple layers, each designed with a specific function to support the healing process while ensuring comfort and protection.
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Hydrogel Layer: At the innermost layer, HealHue features a hydrogel layer made from a blend of pectin and alginate. This layer is the first point of contact with the wound, providing essential hydration and creating an optimal environment for tissue regeneration. By maintaining moisture, it accelerates healing, minimizes scarring, and soothes the wound, especially in cases of burns. Additionally, the hydrogel absorbs wound exudates, reducing inflammation and pain.
The Layers of HealHue
​​​Nanofiber Bioactive Layer: This layer sits above the hydrogel layer, utilizing nanotechnology for advanced therapeutic benefits. Made from polylactic acid (PLA) and produced through an electrospinning process, this layer consists of ultra-fine fibers that allow oxygen to reach the wound while embedding bioactive agents for controlled
release. These agents include honey, silver, and aloe vera
extract—each known for their healing properties.
Honey and silver offer antimicrobial protection, while
aloe vera stimulates collagen production and reduces
inflammation. This layer works to accelerate healing,
prevent bacterial biofilm formation, and promote
tissue regeneration.
​Chitosan Layer: The outermost layer is made from chitosan, a biopolymer derived from crustacean shells. This layer serves as a structural barrier that protects the wound from external contaminants while maintaining breathability. Chitosan is known for its antimicrobial properties and biodegradability, ensuring that the dressing remains effective without compromising the environment.
Layer 4: What REALLY Sets Us Apart
Yes, that's right! The HealHue Wound Dressing has four layers.
One of HealHue’s most groundbreaking features is its intelligent, color-changing indicator layer, strategically positioned between the outer chitosan layer and the inner nanofiber layer. This placement ensures optimal contact with the wound while maintaining visibility for the user. Utilizing natural pH indicators, such as anthocyanins, the layer provides a dynamic, visual cue that reflects the changing conditions of the wound environment. For instance, a healthy, healing wound typically maintains an acidic pH, causing the indicator to display a rich red or purple hue. In the presence of infection, however, the pH shifts towards alkaline, triggering the indicator to transition to blue. This innovative, non-invasive monitoring system not only enhances user awareness of wound health but also significantly reduces the need for frequent dressing changes. By offering real-time feedback, it empowers individuals—particularly in low-resource settings—to better manage wound care with precision and confidence.
The Packaging
The product may be the core innovation, but the packaging is where our commitment to sustainability truly shines. At HealHue, we’ve chosen biodegradable cardboard for our packaging, reflecting our responsibility to the environment. Traditional medical packaging often relies on plastics, which take decades to decompose. In contrast, our cardboard is made from renewable resources, fully recyclable, and naturally biodegradable within weeks, minimizing long-term environmental impact.
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This choice isn’t just eco-friendly; it also ensures that the product remains protected and sterile. The simple, sleek design of the packaging aligns with our brand’s professionalism while reducing waste. By opting for biodegradable cardboard, HealHue sets a new standard in sustainable medical packaging, ensuring that our innovation extends beyond the product itself to create a healthier, more sustainable future.
The Prototype
To validate the feasibility of HealHue’s core principles, we developed a preliminary prototype using accessible biomaterials that simulate the final product's structural and functional properties. This early-stage prototype allowed us to test the fundamental aspects of wound monitoring, absorption, and biocompatibility.
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Material Composition:
The prototype consists of three primary layers, each designed to mimic key aspects of our envisioned innovation:
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Absorbent Hydrogel Core – A layer of agar-agar jelly, a natural polysaccharide, was used to simulate the hydrogel layer in the final design. Agar-agar was selected due to its high water retention capacity, structural stability, and biocompatibility, effectively replicating the moisture-regulating properties of medical hydrogels.
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Semi-Permeable Protective Layer – Paper towels and non-woven gauze fabric were incorporated to mimic the absorbent and protective function of chitosan. This layer allows moisture transfer while preventing contamination, similar to traditional wound dressings.
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Prototype Performance and Observations:
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Absorption Efficiency: The agar-agar hydrogel successfully retained moisture and exhibited controlled release, confirming its potential as a wound-healing substrate.
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Structural Integrity: While paper towels and gauze maintained their form, further iterations will require more durable and adhesive materials to ensure long-term wound adherence.​​
