The paper titled Surgical Sealant with Integrated Shape-Morphing Dual Modality Ultrasound and Computed Tomography Sensors for Gastric Leak Detection authored bySuter B, Anthis AHC, Zehnder AK, Mergen V, Rosendorf J, Gerken LRH, Schlegel AA, Korcakova E, Liska V, Herrmann IKdeals with one of our most important topics which is anastomotic leakage as a postoperative complication in the surgery of gastrointestinal tract. A stomach fluid sensitive patch was developed in this research in order to seal defects on stomach as a new form of treatment as well as to detect any insufficiency of the sealing method during the postoperative period on either ultrasonography or CT examinations using special echogenicity (or density) changing particles. The concept proved working well during an experiment on pig and is therefore a big step on a way to both prevention and early diagnostics of this complication, which means possible minimization of postoperative morbidity for many patients.

Figure:

a. Schematic of the application of three material variants to the stomach on the left, on the right a representation of the change in the structure of the material during the formation of a defect

b. Three material variants on the left during application, on the right during leak activation. In the first row, a macroscopic appearance, in the second row, a CT image, in the third row, a sonographic image