Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

How LED light can break down ingestible medical devices

January 27, 2020 By Danielle Kirsh

ingestible-medical-device-MIT

An ingestible LED like this could be swallowed to expose light-sensitive medical devices to light, helping them to break down in the body. [Image from MIT]

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an approach to break down ingestible medical devices in the gastrointestinal tract.

Medical devices can be inserted in the gastrointestinal tract to treat, diagnose or monitor a number of GI disorders. However, the devices have to removed through endoscopic surgery once completed.

The MIT researchers developed a light-sensitive hydrogel approach that can be incorporated into the medical devices to avoid endoscopic procedures.

“We are developing a set of systems that can reside in the gastrointestinal tract, and as part of that, we’re looking to develop different ways in which we can trigger the disassembly of devices in the GI tract without the requirement for a major procedure,” senior author of the study Giovanni Traverso said in a news release.

The researchers tested the device in pigs and found that the hydrogel-based devices could be triggered to break down when exposed to blue or ultraviolet light from a small LED.

“Given our interests in developing systems that can reside for prolonged periods in the gastrointestinal tract, we continue to investigate a range of approaches to facilitate the removal of these systems in the setting of adverse reaction or when they are no longer needed,” Traverso said. “We’re really looking at different triggers and how they perform and whether we can apply them to different settings.”

One advantage of using the light-based trigger is that light can work at a distance and doesn’t need to come into direct contact with the material it needs to break down, according to the researchers. Light also doesn’t naturally get into the GI tract, so the device can’t accidentally trigger.

To make the new material, the researchers designed a light-sensitive polymer gel that included a chemical bond that can be broken down when exposed to a wavelength of light between 405 and 365 nanometers (blue to ultraviolet). It also has stronger components like polyacrylamide that makes the material more durable but can still be broken down when exposed to light. The researchers also made the material as a double network, which means one polymer network surrounds another.

“You’re forming one polymer network and then forming another polymer network around it so it’s really entangled. That makes it very tough and stretchy,” lead author on the study Ritu Raman said.

The researchers can change the properties of the material by varying the composition of the gel. If there is more light-sensitive material in the device, it will breakdown faster but will be mechanically weaker. The researchers say they can also control how long it takes LED light to break down the material by using different wavelengths of light. Blue light works slower than ultraviolet light but has less risk to cells that are typically sensitive to damage from ultraviolet light.

All aspects of the material are biocompatible and the gel can be molded into a variety of shapes. The researchers have tested it as a seal for a bariatric balloon and an esophageal stent.

On the bariatric balloon, the balloon can be deflated by exposing the seal to a small LED light that can be swallowed and pass out of the body naturally. The balloon is made of latex and filled with sodium polyacrylate, which can absorb water. When tested in pigs, the balloons swelled up once placed in the stomach. A small, ingestible LED with blue light was placed in the stomach for six hours and the balloon slowly deflated, according to the researchers. When exposed to a higher-powered light, the material broke down in 30 minutes.

The researchers also tested the material in an esophageal stent which was able to be broken down and passed through the digestive tract when it was no longer needed.

The MIT researchers suggest the approach could be used to develop other degradable devices.

“This study is a proof of concept that we can create this kind of material, and now we’re thinking about what are the best applications for it,” Traverso said.

The research was published in the journal Science Advances and was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Koch Institute Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute and an AAAS L’Oréal USA for Women in Science Fellowship.

Related Articles Read More >

Blackrock's Utah array is a miniature array of electrodes for sensing brain signals
Blackrock Neurotech and Pitt work on first at-home BCI system for remote trials
MedTrace Pharma's P3 automated delivery system for 15-O water in action
MedTrace Pharma moves forward on 15 O-water imaging tech
Ariste Medical co-founder Lisa Jennings
Ariste Medical co-founder sees great potential for drug-coated implants and orthopedics
What is microscale 3D printing? Lessons learned from Mayo Clinic

DeviceTalks Weekly.

July 1, 2022
Boston Scientific CEO Mike Mahoney on building a corporate culture that drives high growth results
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech