Electroadhesion as a Surgical Tool: Successful Repair of an Intestinal Injury in Mice by Electroadhering a Gel-Patch

We have demonstrated that cationic hydrogels can be permanently adhered to animal tissues by applying a low DC voltage (&lt; 10 V) for a short time (&lt; 60 s) [1]. This phenomenon is termed electroadhesion (EA). It works with tissues of many mammals (human, cow, pig, chicken, and mouse), and is especially strong in the case of the aorta, cornea, lung, and cartilage. Applying the DC field with reversed polarity reverses this adhesion and allows the materials to detach. Only cationic gels can be electroadhered to tissues, which suggests that the tissues have anionic character.<br/><br/>We then set out to study if EA could be used to repair an intestinal injury in mice without the use of sutures. A cut was made in the mouse intestine, and a cationic gel-patch was adhered over the cut by EA (9 V for 30 s). For comparison, the injury was repaired with sutures (positive control) or by weak contact adhesion of the same gel-patch (negative control). After the surgeries, the mice were returned to their normal routine and were then assessed after six days. Mice in the EA group showed no complications due to the EA-based surgery and all of them were healthy at the time of assessment. When these mice had a laparotomy, their injuries were found to have healed, with the healing outcomes being equivalent to or better than the mice treated with sutures. These results suggest that EA can be a viable alternative to sutures, with advantages including the ability to achieve a fast and strong adhesion on-command, and moreover the ability to reverse the adhesion as needed.<br/><br/><b>References</b><br/>[1] L. K. Borden, A. Gargava and S. R. Raghavan, “Reversible electroadhesion of hydrogels to animal tissues for suture-less repair of cuts or tears.” <i>Nature Communications</i>, 2021, 12, 4419.