In numerous experiments, the group has actually revealed the patch can be rapidly stayed with big tears and punctures in the colon, stomach, and intestinal tracts of numerous animal models. The adhesive binds strongly to tissues within numerous seconds and holds for over a month. It is also versatile, able to broaden and contract with a functioning organ as it heals. Once an injury is fully recovered, the spot slowly degrades without causing swelling or sticking to surrounding tissues.
The team visualizes the surgical sticky spot might one day be stocked in operating rooms and used as a safe and quick alternative or support to hand-sewn stitches to fix leaks and tears in the gut and other biological tissues.
” We think this surgical tape is an excellent base technology to be made into an actual, off-the-shelf item,” states Hyunwoo Yuk, a research scientist in MITs Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Surgeons could use it as they use duct tape in the nonsurgical world.
Yuk, the research studys co-lead and co-corresponding author, and his colleagues published their outcomes on February 2, 2022, in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Other co-authors include MIT postdoc and lead author Jingjing Wu; project manager and co-corresponding author Xuanhe Zhao, who is a professor of mechanical engineering and of environmental and civil engineering at MIT; and collaborators from the Mayo Clinic and the Southern University of Science and Technology.
A gut impulse
The new surgical duct tape builds on the teams 2019 style for a double-sided tape. That early iteration comprised a single layer that was sticky on both sides and created to join 2 damp surfaces together.
The adhesive was made from polyacrylic acid, an absorbent material found in diapers, which starts out dry and soaks up wetness when in contact with a damp surface or tissue, temporarily staying with the tissue while doing so. The scientists mixed into the material NHS esters, chemical substances that can bind with proteins in the tissue to form stronger bonds. Finally, they reinforced the adhesive with gelatin or chitosan– natural ingredients that kept the tapes shape.
The scientists discovered the double-sided tape strongly bonded various tissues together. When consulting with surgeons, they recognized that a single-sided version might make a more practical impact.
” In practical scenarios, its not typical to need to stick two tissues together– organs require to be separate from each other,” Wu states. “One tip was to use this sticky aspect to repair leakages and problems in the gut.”
Cosmetic surgeons usually fix leaks and tears in the gastrointestinal system with surgical stitches. Sewing the stitches requires accuracy and training, and following surgery the stitches can set off scarring around the injury. The tissue between stitches might also tear, triggering secondary leakages that could cause sepsis.
” We believed, maybe we could turn our sticky component into an item to fix gut leakages, similar to sealing pipes with duct tape,” Wu says. “That pressed us toward something more like single-sided tape.”
Very same tape, new tricks
The researchers first tuned their adhesive dish, changing gelatin and chitosan with a longer-lasting hydrogel– in this case, polyvinyl alcohol. This swap kept the adhesive physically stable for over a month, long enough for a common gut injury to heal. They also added a second, nonsticky leading layer to keep the spot from adhering to surrounding tissue. This layer was made from a biodegradable polyurethane that has about the exact same stretch and tightness of natural gut tissue.
” We do not want the spot to be weaker than tissue due to the fact that otherwise it would risk rupturing,” Yuk states. “We likewise do not want it to be stiffer due to the fact that it would restrict the peristaltic motion in guts that is necessary for food digestion.”
In initial tests, the spot did stick to tissues, however it likewise swelled, just as a fully damp, hydrogel-based diaper would. This swelling extended the tape and the underlying tear it was intended to seal.
” It was nearly an impossible issue due to the fact that hydrogel naturally swells,” Yuk states. “But we did a basic trick: We prestretched the adhesive layer a bit, then presented the nonadhesive layer, so that when used to a tissue, that prestretching cancels out the swelling.”
The group then performed experiments to check the spots properties and performance. When the spot was put in a culture with human epithelial cells, the cells continued to grow, showing that the spot is biocompatible. When implanted under the skin of rats, the spot biodegraded after about 12 weeks, with no poisonous effects.
The scientists also applied the patch to defects in the animals colons and stomachs, and found it preserved a strong bond as the injuries totally healed. It also produced very little scarring and inflammation compared to repair work made with standard sutures.
Finally, the team applied the patch over colon defects in pigs, and observed that the animals continued to feed generally, with no fever, lethargy, or other unfavorable health impacts. After 4 weeks, the flaws totally recovered, without any indication of secondary leakage.
Taken together, the experiments suggest that the surgical spot could possibly securely repair intestinal injuries, and could be used simply as easily as commercial duct tape. Yuk and Zhao are further establishing the adhesive through a brand-new startup and intend to pursue FDA approval to evaluate the patch in medical settings.
” We are studying a basic mechanics problem, adhesion, in a very difficult environment, inside the body. There are millions of surgical treatments worldwide a year to repair intestinal defects, and the leak rate is up to 20 percent in high-risk clients,” Zhao says. “This tape might solve that issue, and possibly save thousands of lives.”
Referral: “An off-the-shelf bioadhesive patch for sutureless repair of intestinal defects” by Jingjing Wu, Hyunwoo Yuk, Tiffany L. Sarrafian, Chuan Fei Guo, Leigh G. Griffiths, Christoph S. Nabzdyk and Xuanhe Zhao, 2 February 2022, Science Translational Medicine.DOI: 10.1126/ scitranslmed.abh2857.
This work was supported by the MIT Deshpande Center and the Centers for Mechanical Engineering Research and Education at MIT, and SUSTech.
” We believe this surgical tape is a great base innovation to be made into a real, off-the-shelf product,” says Hyunwoo Yuk, a research study researcher in MITs Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Surgeons could use it as they utilize duct tape in the nonsurgical world. The adhesive was made from polyacrylic acid, an absorbent product found in diapers, which starts out dry and soaks up wetness when in contact with a wet surface or tissue, briefly sticking to the tissue in the process. They reinforced the adhesive with gelatin or chitosan– natural ingredients that kept the tapes shape.
“This tape might fix that problem, and possibly save thousands of lives.”
A brand-new MIT-designed surgical sticky tape can be applied quickly and quickly, like duct tape to a pipe, to fix leaks and tears in the intestinal system and other tissues and organs. Credit: Courtesy of the scientists
The sticky spot might be quickly applied to repair gut leaks and tears.
A staple on any engineers workbench, duct tape is a quick and reputable fix for cracks and tears in many structural materials. MIT engineers have now established a sort of surgical duct tape– a strong, flexible, and biocompatible sticky patch that can be quickly and quickly applied to biological tissues and organs to assist seal tears and wounds.
Like duct tape, the brand-new patch is sticky on one side and smooth on the other. In its existing solution, the adhesive is targeted to seal flaws in the intestinal tract, which the engineers explain as the bodys own biological ductwork.