Stimuli-Responsive Gels for Surgery

Image-guided tumor ablative therapies are essential options for treating cancer, yet they often necessitate tissue displacement during procedures to prevent damage to surrounding organs. Traditional methods, like hydrodissection (fluidic injection), face limitations due to the rapid diffusion of fluids and inadequate retention times. This can lead to injuries to adjacent organs, elevated cancer recurrence rates due to incomplete tumor ablation, and restrictions on patient eligibility.

To address these challenges, a novel "gel-dissection" technique has been developed, utilizing injectable hydrogels for longer-lasting, shapeable, and adaptable tissue separation. This advancement enables clinicians to have extended operation windows and enhanced precision in tumor ablation processes. A rheological model has been created to optimize gel-dissection parameters for better performance.

Research conducted on swine models demonstrates that gel-dissection provides tissue separation dynamics that last 24 times longer than saline solutions while requiring 40% less injected volume. Additionally, it facilitates effective dissection between free-floating organs within the peritoneal cavity and offers significant thermal protection during ablative procedures. This innovative technique holds the potential to broaden the application of minimally invasive therapies across various locoregional treatments, including radiation therapy, cryoablation, endoscopic procedures, and surgical interventions.

Gel for laser surgery — Functional requirements for tissue dissection and gel-dissection overview a) Desired separation of organs using dissection media; b) Casestudy demonstrating the limitations of SoC dissection procedures:1) A patient with oligometastatic HCC presented for ablation of multiple lesions: one insegment II of the liver was located adjacent to the stomach, making them a non-surgical candidate and precluding direct MWA, 2) Fluid hydrodissectionfailed, in which contrast injection showed poor distension and dissipated away from the injection site to lower pressure regions in the peritoneal cavity,3) Pneumo-dissective air injected for anterior abdomen showed minimal protection and dissipated to the top of the abdominal space, 4) Deployment ofan inflated balloon eventually displaced the stomach from the tumor, but only after challenging and lengthy maneuvering (totaling hours of attempts);c) Functionalities of gel-dissection enabled by tunable gel properties; d) Comparison of functionality achievable by gel-dissection presented hereincompared to SoC methods; e) Tissue displacement achieved herein by the tunable gel-dissection platform, both between tissues (inter-tissue; top) andwithin tissues (intra-tissue; bottom).

Contact: Kathy Liu