Engineers have developed a surgical sticky tape that can be applied quickly and easily, like duct tape to a pipe, to repair gut leaks and tears.

The new surgical duct tape developed by engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Cambridge, MA, USA) is a strong, flexible, and biocompatible sticky patch that can be easily and quickly applied to biological tissues and organs to help seal tears and wounds. Like duct tape, the new patch is sticky on one side and smooth on the other. In its current formulation, the adhesive is targeted to seal defects in the gastrointestinal tract, which the engineers describe as the body’s own biological ductwork. Surgeons typically repair leaks and tears in the gastrointestinal tract with surgical sutures. But sewing the stitches requires precision and training, and following surgery the sutures can trigger scarring around the injury. The tissue between stitches could also tear, causing secondary leakages that could lead to sepsis.

The new surgical duct tape builds on the team’s 2019 design for a double-sided tape. That early iteration comprised a single layer that was sticky on both sides and designed to join two wet surfaces together. But when consulting with surgeons, they realized that a single-sided version might make a more practical impact. In numerous experiments, the team has shown the patch can be quickly stuck to large tears and punctures in the colon, stomach, and intestines of various animal models. The adhesive binds strongly to tissues within several seconds and holds for over a month. It is also flexible, able to expand and contract with a functioning organ as it heals. Once an injury is fully healed, the patch gradually degrades without causing inflammation or sticking to surrounding tissues. The team envisions the surgical sticky patch could one day be stocked in operating rooms and used as a fast and safe alternative or reinforcement to hand-sewn sutures to repair leaks and tears in the gut and other biological tissues.

“We think this surgical tape is a good base technology to be made into an actual, off-the-shelf product,” said Hyunwoo Yuk, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Surgeons could use it as they use duct tape in the nonsurgical world. It doesn’t need any preparation or prior step. Just take it out, open, and use.”

“We are studying a fundamental mechanics problem, adhesion, in an extremely challenging environment, inside the body. There are millions of surgeries worldwide a year to repair gastrointestinal defects, and the leakage rate is up to 20% in high-risk patients,” said project supervisor and co-corresponding author Xuanhe Zhao, who is a professor of mechanical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering at MIT. “This tape could solve that problem, and potentially save thousands of lives.” 

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