Nowadays, in many surgical specialties, the use of electrosurgical devices has become a daily practice. However, realistic physical models on which to test instruments and procedures before clinical use are lacking. In this work, we have developed and characterized a new class of conductive gels designed to replicate the electrical behavior of human tissues when exposed to high-frequency currents. These materials—custom-designed ionogels and hydrogels—combine mechanical properties similar to soft tissues (such as the brain, liver, and muscle) with an electrical response comparable to biological tissues.
They were obtained through versatile techniques such as UV photopolymerization and solvent casting, allowing the composition to be adjusted based on required characteristics. Our study, published in Advanced Materials Interfaces (https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400246), identified a particularly promising material: a choline lactate-based ionogel that is biocompatible and stable over time. It has proven effective in simulating cutting and coagulation using scalpels and bipolar forceps. Compared to traditional hydrogels, which tend to dehydrate quickly, this material maintains its shape, consistency, and conductivity even after several weeks.
We demonstrated the usefulness of these gels in two applications:
- A multilayer pad that simulates skin stratification, allowing for tissue cutting techniques to be practiced with both scalpels and electrosurgical scalpels.
- A vascular model that realistically replicates the coagulation of cortical vessels, as observed in neurosurgery.
This technology is a challenge not only for research but also for preclinical testing of electrosurgical devices, comparative evaluations of surgical instruments, and the development of more precise and controlled techniques.