Printing in situ tissue sealant with visible-light-crosslinked porous hydrogel

To reflect the rapidly growing interest in producing tissue sealants using various chemical/physical processes, we report an approach using visible light to control the crosslinking of 3D printable hydrogels as in situ tissue sealant. Gelatin-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid conjugate (Gtn-HPA) is shown to crosslink effectively within 30 s under visible light in the presence of [RuII(bpy)₃]²⁺ and sodium persulphate, which is sufficiently rapid for surgery use. Porous structure can be also introduced by including carboxylmethyl cellulose-tyramine (CMC-Tyr) as a precursor. The detailed parameters involved in the hydrogel formation, including irradiation time and distance, are investigated in this study. The results suggested that a longer exposure time would result in a hydrogel with higher crosslinking density, while sufficient photocrosslinking can be achieved using a routine visible light source at a distance of 100 mm. Surface morphology of the photocrosslinked hydrogels are studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and environmental SEM with results confirming the expected porosity. The tensile strength of the photocrosslinked hydrogels has been tested for both non-porous and porous samples. Notably, the adhesive strengths (adhesion) of the photocrosslinked hydrogels was demonstrated to be significantly higher compared to that of commercial fibrin glue. Finally, a prototype of hand-held applicator has been developed and demonstrated to print out Gtn-HPA/CMC-Tyr hydrogel of designed properties with controlled spatial resolution. The development of both material and applicator in this study provides a promising tissue sealant solution for wound closure in future surgical procedures.