Liquid Metal as Connecting or Functional Recovery Channel for the Transected Sciatic Nerve

TL;DR

This study introduces liquid metal GaInSn alloy as a novel, highly conductive, and biocompatible channel for nerve repair, demonstrating superior electrical conduction and ease of surgical application compared to traditional solutions.

Contribution

The paper presents the first application of liquid metal GaInSn alloy for peripheral nerve repair, highlighting its advantages over conventional methods in electrical conductivity and surgical visibility.

Findings

Liquid metal effectively reconnects transected sciatic nerve in vivo.

GaInSn alloy shows lower impedance than Riger Solution, enhancing signal conduction.

High radiographic visibility facilitates secondary surgeries.

Abstract

In this article, the liquid metal GaInSn alloy (67% Ga, 20.5% In, and 12.5% Sn by volume) is proposed for the first time to repair the peripheral neurotmesis as connecting or functional recovery channel. Such material owns a group of unique merits in many aspects, such as favorable fluidity, super compliance, high electrical conductivity, which are rather beneficial for conducting the excited signal of nerve during the regeneration process in vivo. It was found that the measured electroneurographic signal from the transected bullfrog sciatic nerve reconnected by the liquid metal after the electrical stimulation was close to that from the intact sciatic nerve. The control experiments through replacement of GaInSn with the conventionally used Riger Solution revealed that Riger Solution could not be competitive with the liquid metal in the performance as functional recovery channel. In addition, through evaluation of the basic electrical property, the material GaInSn works more suitable for the conduction of the weak electroneurographic signal as its impedance was several orders lower than that of the well-known Riger Solution. Further, the visibility under the plain radiograph of such material revealed the high convenience in performing secondary surgery. This new generation nerve connecting material is expected to be important for the functional recovery during regeneration of the injured peripheral nerve and the optimization of neurosurgery in the near future.