EMPA: Surgical sealant

2023: Product Announcement

On June 15, 2023, Swiss researchers from the Federal Laboratories of Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) announced the development of a new type of surgical sealant that could warn doctors of intestinal insolvency after gastrointestinal (GI) surgery.

Scientists say GI surgical procedures can leak intestinal fluid into the abdomen, posing a serious risk to patients. Sutures applied during surgery can leak over time, but often so that doctors learn about it only when dangerous symptoms occur, which pose a risk to the health and life of the patient. The new material solves this problem.

New type of surgical sealant that could warn doctors of intestinal insolvency

Researchers have created a surgical sealant that can alert doctors to fluid leaks from the intestines without having to reopen the operating field. Elastic and flexible material contains carbonates in polyacrylamide matrix. When the sealant is exposed to gastrointestinal fluid, the carbonates turn to carbon dioxide, gas creating small bubbles in the structure of the substance. These changes can be detected by means of a manual ultrasonic sensor or by means of. computed tomography

Thus, patients who have undergone gastrointestinal surgery can undergo a routine examination using ultrasound or CT to assess the condition of the sutures. This will in many cases eliminate the need for repeated surgery. An additional property of the sealant is the ability to change shape in the presence of gastrointestinal fluid, which facilitates the identification of leaking sutures. This is achieved by incorporating an insoluble tantalum oxide compound into the material, which causes transformation.^[1]

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