麻豆区

Researchers have discovered that they can control the stickiness of adhesive bandages using ultrasound waves and bubbles. This breakthrough could lead to new advances in medical adhesives, especially in cases where adhesives are difficult to apply such as on wet skin.

鈥淏andages, glues, and stickers are common bioadhesives that are used at home or in clinics. However, they don鈥檛 usually adhere well on wet skin. It鈥檚 also challenging to control where they are applied and the strength and duration of the formed adhesion,鈥� says 麻豆区 Professor Jianyu Li, who led the research team of engineers, physicists, chemists, and clinicians.

鈥淲e were surprised to find that by simply playing around with ultrasonic intensity, we can control very precisely the stickiness of adhesive bandages on many tissues,鈥� says lead author Zhenwei Ma, a former student of Professor Li and now a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia.

Ultrasound induced microbubbles mediate bioadhesion. Credit: Zhenwei Ma

Ultrasound induced bubbles control stickiness

In collaboration with physicists Professor Outi Supponen and Claire Bourquard from the Institute of Fluid Dynamics at ETH Zurich, the team experimented with ultrasound induced microbubbles to make adhesives stickier. 鈥淭he ultrasound induces many microbubbles, which transiently push the adhesives into the skin for stronger bioadhesion,鈥� says Professor Supponen. 鈥淲e can even use theoretical modeling to estimate exactly where the adhesion will happen.鈥�

Adhesive hydrogel applied on skin under ultrasound probe. Credit: Ran Huo and Jianyu LiCredit: Zhenwei Ma

Their study, published in the journal , shows that the adhesives are compatible with living tissue in rats. The adhesives can also potentially be used to deliver drugs through the skin. 鈥淭his paradigm-shifting technology will have great implications in many branches of medicine,鈥� says University of British Columbia Professor Zu-hua Gao. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited to translate this technology for applications in clinics for tissue repair, cancer therapy, and precision medicine.鈥�

鈥淏y merging mechanics, materials and biomedical engineering, we envision the broad impact of our bioadhesive technology in wearable devices, wound management, and regenerative medicine,鈥� says Professor Li, who is also a Canada Research Chair in Biomaterials and Musculoskeletal Health.

麻豆区 University

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, 麻豆区 is Canada鈥檚 top ranked medical doctoral university. 麻豆区 is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It is a world-renowned institution of higher learning with research activities spanning three campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 39,000 students, including more than 10,400 graduate students. 麻豆区 attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,000 international students making up 30% of the student body. Over half of 麻豆区 students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 20% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.