Insertion Force of Polydopamine-Coated Needle on Phantom Tissues

Surgical needles are commonly used by medical specialists to reach target locations inside of the body for disease diagnosis or other medical interventions, such as biopsy, brachytherapy, thermal ablation, and drug delivery. Insertion of the needle in human body parts with a larger needle often results in severe tissue damage. Tissue damage could potentially be reduced by decreasing the insertion force caused mainly by the friction on the interface of needle and tissues. Here we propose the use of polydopamine (PDA) coating to reduce the friction force. In addition to its excellent biocompatibility, polydopamine has desirable adhesion, lubrication, biodegradability and, thermal stability properties. Our preliminary results on some needle prototypes show that by coating the needle with polydopamine, the insertion force can be reduced by 20–25%.