the Karp Laboratory / Brigham and Women's Hospital
imitating a technique used by an intestinal parasite of fish, researchers have developed a flexible studded patch with microneedles that holds skin grafts up more strongly than are surgical staples. After burrowing into the walls of the intestine of a fish, spiny head worm Pomphorhynchus laevis inflates his trunk to better incorporate itself into the soft tissues. In the new patch (sample shown in the main picture), the rigid polystyrene core needles 700 micrometer pitch (inset) penetrates the tissue; then a thin hydrogel coating on the tip of each needle-based coating material in disposable diapers which expands when wetted, swells to help anchor the patch in place. In tests using skin grafts, the adhesive strength of the patch was more than three times higher than the surgical staples, the researchers report online today in Nature Communications . Because the patch is not dependent on chemical adhesives for its gripping power, there is less chance for patients to have an allergic response. And because the microneedles are about a quarter of the length of the typical surgical staples, patches cause less tissue damage when they are removed, the researchers argue. Moreover the keeping of records in place, the patch may be used to maintain the sides of a wound or incision together-even, in theory, those inside the body if a slow dissolving version of the patch can be developed. In addition, the researchers say, the hydrogel coating is promising as a way to deliver proteins, drugs or other therapeutic substances to patients.
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