Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 30;10(1):493. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08355-2.
Devices that interact with living organisms are typically made of metals, silicon, ceramics, and plastics. Implantation of such devices for long-term monitoring or treatment generally requires invasive procedures. Hydrogels offer new opportunities for human-machine interactions due to their superior mechanical compliance and biocompatibility. Additionally, oral administration, coupled with gastric residency, serves as a non-invasive alternative to implantation. Achieving gastric residency with hydrogels requires the hydrogels to swell very rapidly and to withstand gastric mechanical forces over time. However, high swelling ratio, high swelling speed, and long-term robustness do not coexist in existing hydrogels. Here, we introduce a hydrogel device that can be ingested as a standard-sized pill, swell rapidly into a large soft sphere, and maintain robustness under repeated mechanical loads in the stomach for up to one month. Large animal tests support the exceptional performance of the ingestible hydrogel device for long-term gastric retention and physiological monitoring.
与生物体相互作用的设备通常由金属、硅、陶瓷和塑料制成。为了进行长期监测或治疗而植入这些设备通常需要进行侵入性手术。由于水凝胶具有优越的机械顺应性和生物相容性，因此为人机交互提供了新的机会。此外，口服给药结合胃驻留，为植入提供了一种非侵入性替代方法。要使水凝胶具有胃驻留能力，需要水凝胶能够迅速膨胀，并能够随着时间的推移承受胃机械力。然而，现有的水凝胶中并不存在高膨胀比、高膨胀速度和长期稳健性共存的情况。在这里，我们介绍了一种水凝胶装置，它可以作为标准大小的药丸被摄入体内，迅速膨胀成一个大的柔软球体，并在胃中反复机械负荷下保持稳健，最长可达一个月。大型动物试验支持可食用水凝胶装置在长期胃保留和生理监测方面的卓越性能。
