as well as semiconductive and conductive polymers to tailor the behavior of natural cotton fibers. he layers were so thin that the flexibility of the cotton fibers is preserved always,
which are coated with a charged polymer layer that helps them adhere to the target microbes,
However, these devices, often created with nondegradable elastic polymers, bear an inherent risk of intestinal obstruction as a result of accidental fracture or migration.
Now, researchers at MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have created a polymer gel that overcomes this safety concern
This polymer is ph-responsive: It is stable in the acidic stomach environment but dissolves in the small intestine near-neutral ph,
and folding of devices into easily ingestible capsules meaning this polymer can be used to create safe devices designed for extremely prolonged residence in the stomach. ne of the issues with any device in the GI TRACT is that there the potential for an obstruction,
polymer gel for creating gastric devices. Shiyi Zhang, a postdoc at the Koch Institute, is the paper lead author.
the researchers were interested in developing a polymer with elastic properties. n elastic device can be folded into something small,
But the size and shape of existing devices with elastic polymers have been limited by safety concerns,
Because of this, the researchers wanted their polymer to also be enteric or have a mechanism that would enable it to pass through the stomach unaltered before disintegrating in the intestines. o lower any possible risk of obstruction,
the researchers synthesized an elastic polymer and combined it in solution with a clinically utilized enteric polymer.
Adding hydrochloric acid and centrifuging the solution resulted in a flexible, yet resilient, polymer gel that exhibits both elastic and enteric properties.
The researchers used the gel polycaprolactone (PCL), a nontoxic, degradable polyester, to construct several device prototypes.
They first created ring-shaped devices by using the gel to link arcs of PCL in a circular mold.
the polymer gel dissolved, allowing for the safe passage of the small PCL pieces without obstruction.
Improving adherence The combined enteric and elastic properties of this polymer gel could significantly improve the design and adoption of gastric-resident devices.
With further work in adjusting the polymer composition or the design of the system they say that they could tailor devices to release drugs over a specific timeframe of up to weeks or months at a time.
The researchers have been studying bio-based polymers for more than a decade. While they showed some promise,
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