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Deglutition disorders (dysphagia) are common symptoms of a large number of diseases and can lead to severe deterioration of the patient's quality of life. The clinical evaluation of this problem involves an invasive screening, whose results are subjective and do not provide a precise and quantitative assessment. To overcome these issues, alternative possibilities based on wearable technologies have been proposed. We explore the use of ultrathin, compliant, and flexible piezoelectric patches that are able to convert the laryngeal movement into a well-defined electrical signal, with extremely low anatomical obstruction and high strain resolution. The sensor is based on an aluminum nitride thin film, grown on a soft Kapton substrate, integrated with an electrical charge amplifier and low-power, wireless connection to a smartphone. An ad-hoc designed laryngeal motion simulator (LMS), which is able to mimic the motions of the laryngeal prominence, was used to evaluate its performances. The physiological deglutition waveforms were then extrapolated on a healthy volunteer and compared with the sEMG (surface electromyography) of the submental muscles. Finally, different tests were conducted to assess the ability of the sensor to provide clinically relevant information. The reliability of these features permits an unbiased evaluation of the swallowing ability, paving the way to the creation of a system that is able to provide a point-of-care automatic, unobtrusive, and real-time extrapolation of the patient's swallowing quality even during normal behavior.

Valorization of wild plants to obtain botanical ingredients could be a strategy for sustainable production of cosmetics. This study aimed to select the rosehip extract containing the greatest amounts of bioactive compounds and to encapsulate it in vesicular systems capable of protecting their own antioxidant activity. Chemical analysis of Rosa canina L. extracts was performed by LC-DAD-MS/MS and 1H-NMR and vitamins, phenolic compounds, sugars, and organic acids were detected as the main compounds of the extracts. Liposomes, prepared by the film hydration method, together with hyalurosomes and ethosomes, obtained by the ethanol injection method, were characterized in terms of vesicle size, polydispersity index, entrapment efficiency, zeta potential, in vitro release and biocompatibility on WS1 fibroblasts. Among all types of vesicular systems, ethosomes proved to be the most promising nanocarriers showing nanometric size (196 ± 1 nm), narrow polydispersity (0.20 ± 0.02), good entrapment efficiency (92.30 ± 0.02%), and negative zeta potential (−37.36 ± 0.55 mV). Moreover, ethosomes showed good stability over time, a slow release of polyphenols compared with free extract, and they were not cytotoxic. In conclusion, ethosomes could be innovative carriers for the encapsulation of rosehip extract.

The selection of an appropriate dressing for each type of wound is a very important procedure for a faster and more accurate healing process. So, the aim of this study was to develop innovative Spanish Broom and flax wound dressings, as alternatives to cotton used as control, with polymeric films containing glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) to promote wound-exudate absorption and the healing process. The different wound dressings were prepared by a solvent casting method, and characterized in terms of drug loading, water uptake, and in vitro release. Moreover, biological studies were performed to evaluate their biocompatibility and wound-healing efficacy. Comparing the developed wound dressings, Spanish Broom dressings with GA-loaded sodium hyaluronate film had the best functional properties, in terms of hydration ability and GA release. Moreover, they showed a good biocompatibility, determining a moderate induction of cell proliferation and no cytotoxicity. In addition, the wound-healing test revealed that the Spanish Broom dressings promoted cell migration, further facilitating the closure of the wound.