Study on the biocompatibility of Ga-based and Al-assisted self-driven liquid metal in cell and animal experiments for drug delivery

Abstract

BACKGROUND: With inherent flexibility, high electroconductivity, excellent thermal conductivity, easy printability and biosafety, Ga-based functional liquid metals (LMs) have been extensively evaluated for biomedical applications. When implanted in the biological environment, the safety of the LMs is a major concern for future application. METHODS: In this study, we conducted several biocompatibility assessments through immersion experiments, in vitro cytotoxicity experiments and in vivo embedding experiments. RESULTS: The results showed that both the Al-assisted self-driven LM and the LM per se own good biocompatibility and retrievable properties when contacted with living organisms for a relatively long period of time. CONCLUSION: This study provides preliminary evidence about the biocompatibility of the functional LM materials, such as LM-based soft machine, which would promote and inspire other research to address other tough biomedical issues.

Advances of liquid metal hydrogel composites in biomedical applications

“…Hou et al conducted a series of Ga-based LMs biocompatibility evaluations through immersion experiments, cytotoxicity tests in vitro, and embedding experiments in vivo. The results have proven that Ga-based LMs have good biocompatibility with living organisms over a relatively long time and retrievable properties [75]. It is worth noting that these findings above are based on short-term studies.…”

“…Compared with LMs, the biosafety of hydrogels has been detailedly and extensively studied and employed in clinical applications and tissue engineering [186]. In general, Ga and Ga-based alloys have shown good biocompatibility and low toxicity based on current in vivo animal experiments [75]. However, comprehensive studies of long-term and short-term toxicology of LMs are lacking, considering that the human body is a complex and constantly changing environment in which various dynamic biological and chemical reactions occur at all times.…”