New double-sided tape developed at MIT may be a gentler alternative to surgical sutures

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While surgical sutures are commonly used to close wounds inside the body, they can actually damage delicate internal biological tissues, sometimes causing infections or other complications. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a better method in the form of double-sided tape.

The idea is to place several pieces of tape between two surfaces that need to be joined, such as opposite sides of an incision in an organ. These two surfaces are then pressed together and held in place with the tape until the healing process is complete.

The bottom of the tape comes in the form of strips of gelatin or chitosan, both of which break down harmlessly in the body after the work is done - gelatin lasts for a few days, and chitosan lasts for a month to a year.

On both sides of these tapes is a material known as polyacrylic acid. Typically used in diapers, it is first in used to absorb body fluids on both surfaces. The acid can then quickly form weak hydrogen bonds with those now-dry surfaces, sticking them together. Chemicals called NHS esters present in polyacrylic acid then form much stronger ****valent bonds with proteins in the tissue. The entire bonding process takes only about five seconds, much faster than existing surgical glues.

The technique was actually inspired by the natural "glue" produced by spiders. It contains electrically charged polysaccharides that absorb water from insect prey in humid conditions, allowing the "glue" to stick to those insects.

So far, the tape has been successfully tested on pig tissues, including skin, small intestine, stomach and liver, and has also been used on pig lungs and airways. Eventually, scientists hope the material will be used not only to join tissues together, but also to hold implants in place in the body.

A paper on the research was recently published in the journal Nature.

To learn more about MIT's new double-sided tape, which may be a gentler alternative to surgical sutures, stay tuned to Deep Space's Science & Technology section, which will continue to update you with more information on science and technology. King's Heart 2 Click to Play