Tough Hydrogel Bioadhesives for Sutureless Wound Sealing, Hemostasis and Biointerfaces

Hydrogel bioadhesion technology has offered unprecedented opportunities in minimally-invasive surgeries, which are routinely performed to reduce postoperative complication, recovery time, and patient discomfort. Existing hydrogel-based adhesives are challenged either by their inherent weak adhesion under wet and dynamic conditions, or potential immunological side-effects, especially for synthetic hydrogel bioadhesives. Here, a kind of synthetic hydrogel bioadhesives from a variety of polymer precursors are reported, featuring instant formation of tough biointerface, allowing for wet and robust adhesion with highly dynamic biological tissues. Moreover, by getting rid of monomers during the hydrogel fabrication, these hydrogel adhesives do not cause any inflammatory response during the in vivo wound sealing, promising for immediate vascular defects repairing and surgical hemostasis. Additionally, they could also serve as human-electronics interfacing materials, enabling bioelectronics implantation for real-time physiological and clinical monitoring.

Automated summary

Hydrogel bioadhesion technology provides unprecedented opportunities for minimally-invasive surgeries. The new synthetic hydrogel bioadhesives offer instant formation of tough biointerface for wet and robust adhesion on highly dynamic biological tissues, without causing inflammatory response postoperatively. They have potential applications in immediate vascular defects repairing, surgical hemostasis, and bioelectronics implantation for real-time physiological and clinical monitoring.