Ultra-Soft Sensor with Tissue Adhesive

Researchers Develop Ultra-Soft, Tissue-Adhesive Sensor A research team comprising Professor Sung-Min Park and Young-Soo Lim from POBTEK's Convergence IT Engineering Department and Professor Steve Park and Byungkook Oh from KAIST's Materials Science Department has developed a multifunctional, implantable sensor containing an ultra-soft and highly stretchable tissue-adhesive hydrogel for monitoring patients with overactive bladder syndrome (OAB). The research findings were published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics. Overactive bladder syndrome is a medical condition characterized by uncontrollable, frequent urination urgency. People suffering from this syndrome may wake up at night to urinate despite having no underlying disease that triggers it. Although the condition is not life-threatening, it can impair patients' daily activities and reduce their quality of life. People with overactive bladder syndrome have relied on traditional pharmaceuticals for treatment, and some have proven ineffective for certain patients. A relatively newer treatment method involves providing electrical stimulation directly or indirectly to nerves attached to the bladder to reduce excessive bladder activity. However, applying this treatment presents certain challenges, since delivering the correct amount of stimulation to the nerves without monitoring bladder activity can be difficult. Excessive stimulation may cause side effects or render the treatment ineffective. For this reason, researchers focused on developing a monitoring device to observe bladder activity in real time. Since the detrusor muscle is controlled by neural activity, they hypothesized that complete electromechanical measurement is necessary to accurately monitor overactive bladder symptoms. The research team designed a USH-SI sensor capable of monitoring both mechanical (strain sensor to measure contraction and relaxation) and bioelectrical (EMG sensor to measure neural signals) activities of the bladder on a single platform. In a test where the research team surgically implanted the USH-SI sensor in an anesthetized pig, the sensor demonstrated the ability to measure in vivo strain and EMG signals of the bladder, making it possible to monitor detrusor muscle movement and neural activity. In particular, the hydrogel's strong adhesiveness (adhesive force: 260.86 N/m) enabled tighter attachment to the bladder compared to conventional silicone sensors. Sensor placement can be performed using surgical robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Professor Steve Park from KAIST stated: "The new sensor demonstrates that sensors can be made small enough to be implanted through surgical robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. This has the potential to minimize recovery time for a patient and reduce side effects." Professor Sung-Min Park, who directed the study, said: "We combined the USHSI sensor with a neural stimulator aimed at treating overactive bladders, a chronic condition. This makes simultaneous monitoring and neural stimulation possible. We expect it to be a platform that can be applied to other internal organs." The work was conducted with support from the Nano Material Technology Development Program through the Korea National Research Foundation. Academic reference: Byungkook Oh, Young-Soo Lim, Kun Woo Ko, Hyeonyeob Seo, Dong Jun Kim, Dukyoo Kong, Jae Min You, Hansoul Kim, Taek-Soo Kim, Seongjun Park, Dong-Soo Kwon, Joon Chae Na, Woong Kyu Han, Sung-Min Park, Steve Park. Ultrasoft and highly stretchable tissue-adhesive hydrogel based multifunctional implantable sensor for monitoring of overactive bladder. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2023; 225: 115060 DOI: 10.1016/j. bios.2023.115060 Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230309071145.htm