Morphing-to-Adhesion Polysaccharide Hydrogel for Adaptive Biointerfaces

Abstract

Reliable functions of medical implants highly depend on biocompatible, conformal, and stable biointerfaces for seamless biointegration with biological tissues. Though flexible biointerfaces based on synthetic hydrogels have shown promise in optimizing implant biointegration via surgical suturing, physical attachment, or manual preshaping, they still suffer from poor adaptability, such as tissue damage by surgical suturing, low bioactivity, and difficulties in conformal contact and stable fixation, especially for specific tissues of large surface curvatures. Here, we report a bilayer hydrogel-based adaptive biointerface (HAB) made of two polysaccharide derivates, N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester-activated alginate and chitosan, harnessing dual advantages of their different swelling and active groups. Leveraging on the differential swelling between the two hydrogel layers and covalent linkages with active groups at hydrogel interfaces, HABs can be programmed into sealed tubes with tunable diameters via water-induced compliable shape morphing and instant interfacial adhesion. We further demonstrate that the polysaccharide-based morphing-to-adhesion HAB possesses outstanding bioactivity in directing cellular focal adhesion and intercellular junction, versatile geometrical adaptability to diverse tubular tissues with a wide range of surface curvatures (2.8 × 102–1.3 × 103 m–1), and excellent mechanical stability in high load-/shear-bearing physiological environments (blood flow volume: 85 mm·s–1). HABs overcome the limitations of existing biointerfaces in terms of poor bioactivity and difficult biointegration with biological tissues of large surface curvatures, holding promise to open new avenues for adaptive biointerfaces and reliable medical implants.

Mimosa‐Inspired Stimuli‐Responsive Curling Bioadhesive Tape Promotes Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

“…It absorbs tissue fluid around the nerve and produces shape changes, stabilizing the apposition to the nerve and providing a regenerative scaffold (Figure S14, Supporting Information). [ 58–90 ] This hydrogel platform is expected to replace microsuturing techniques, reduce surgical difficulty, and facilitate patient recovery.…”

Reconfigurable scaffolds for adaptive tissue regeneration

“…110,111 Recently, we have developed a multifunctional tissue engineering scaffold with coupled reconfigurable and bio-adhesive capabilities. 112 The scaffold was formed based on two types of naturally derived polysaccharide hydrogels, i.e., chitosan and alginate. The two polysaccharide hydrogels at the two scaffold layers exhibited distinct different swelling behaviours upon immersion in water or bio-fluids, therefore endowing the scaffolds with swelling-triggered reconfigurable capabilities.…”

Customizable single-layer hydrogel robot with programmable NIR-triggered responsiveness

“…Compared to previous work, 62 this paper presents advancements in the manufacturing technology of soft robots, enabling the reversible and programmable functionality of a single-layer hydrogel robot. Besides, if combined with flexible sensing, 63 multi-physical cooperative driving, 64,65 and therapeutic capabilities, 66,67 the single-layer hydrogel robot could realize the integration of diagnosis and treatment and environmental monitoring in the biomedical field. For instance, the integration of temperature-responsive color changes could potentially enable the realization of an unconstrained environmental monitoring system and locally driven soft robot systems.…”