From Swiss researchers at EMPA a "hydrophobic" hydrogel capable of binding to the mucosa, forming reticulates and resisting gastric juices

Closing wounds in a person's digestive tract is a real medical challenge. The researchers of theEMPA a St. Gallen in Switzerland have now developed a polymeric bowel patch that can be used to stably bind and seal the intestines internal wounds.
A burst appendix or intestinal volvulus life-threatening are emergencies that must be treated immediately by surgeons.
However, a life-saving operation, in which the fabric of the digestive tract must be reattached, it objectively involves certain risks.
After all, what is transported through the gastrointestinal tract to the outside world actually belongs to that environment, and should under no circumstances end up inside the abdominal cavity.
Gastric juices highly acidic and food residues loaded with germs could trigger peritonitis or even deadly sepsis.
Needle and thread alone they are not necessarily the best surgical instruments for plugging two sections of intestine: after all, who would ever think of sewing up a bag containing leaking food in this way?
EMPA researchers therefore developed in Switzerland un plaster which stably seals two sutured pieces of intestine and thus prevents dangerous leakage of material.

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Current protein bandages dissolve too quickly

The idea of ​​sealing the sutured tissue with a plaster he has already made his entrance into the operating rooms.
I first products of this type, however, they turned out to be badly tolerated from the organism or even toxic, so that i modern plasters are currently made of biodegradable proteins.
The problem is that clinical success is not always optimal and varies according to the tissue on which they are used.
This is because protein patches are primarily intended to support the healing process. Si they dissolve too quickly when they are in contact with digestive juices and do not always hold well.
“Leaks after abdominal surgery are still one of the most feared complications today”, explains Inge Hermann, researcher at the Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research, who is also professor of nanoparticle systems al Zurich Polytechnic.
The team led by her and by Alexandre Anthis of the Particles-Biology Interactions laboratory of EMPA in St. Gallen therefore joined forces with Andrea Schlegel, a surgeon of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital di Birmingham in Britain, to look for a material that could reliably seal the intestinal injuries and surgical wounds.
So they identified a synthetic composite material composed of four acrylic substances which, together, form a hydrogel chemically stable.
Furthermore, the patch actively binds with the intestinal tissue to the point where any fluid is no longer able to pass.
Swiss researchers have already successfully patented this new technology.
The cocktail of acrylic acid, methyl acrylate, acrylamide e bis-acrylamide works in perfect synergy, since each component send one specific feature to the final product: a stable bond to the mucosa, the formation of lattices, the resistance to digestive juices andhydrophobicity.

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“Five times the maximum pressure load in the intestine”

In laboratory experiments, researchers have shown that the polymer system is able to fulfill their expectations.
“The adhesion is up to ten times higher than that of conventional adhesive materials”says the researcherEMPA Alexandre Anthis.
"Further analyzes also showed that our hydrogel can withstand five times the maximum pressure load in the intestine."
And it is in material design which is his custom made effect: rubbery composite reacts selectively to digestive juices which could come out of intestinal wounds, expanding e closing even more firmly.
La cheap super glue e biocompatible, which largely consists of water, could thus shorten the hospital stays and lead to savings in health care costs.
Alexandre Anthis is therefore already planning the next steps towardsclinical application of the new wound plaster: “We are in the process of founding a start-up to bring this innovative material to market.”

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