Adhesive

Bioadhesive

Photodynamic therapy

Biomedical engineering

Materials science

Layer (electronics)

Diode

Drug delivery

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Medicine

Chemistry

Optoelectronics

Nature Biomedical Engineering

Metronomic (that is, low-dose and long-term) photodynamic therapy (mPDT) for treating internal lesions requires the stable fixation of optical devices to internal tissue surfaces to enable continuous, local light delivery. Surgical suturing—the standard choice for device fixation—can be unsuitable in the presence of surrounding major nerves and blood vessels, as well as for organs or tissues that are fragile, change their shape or actively move. Here, we show that an implantable and wirelessly powered mPDT device consisting of near-field-communication-based light-emitting-diode chips and bioadhesive and stretchable polydopamine-modified poly(dimethylsiloxane) nanosheets can be stably fixed onto the inner surface of animal tissue. When implanted subcutaneously in mice with intradermally transplanted tumours, the device led to significant antitumour effects by irradiating for 10 d at approximately 1,000-fold lower intensity than conventional PDT approaches. The mPDT device might facilitate treatment strategies for hard-to-detect microtumours and deeply located lesions that are hard to reach with standard phototherapy. An implantable, wirelessly powered optoelectronic device that adheres to tissue for the delivery of low-dose, long-term photodynamic therapy leads to significant antitumour effects in mice with intradermally transplanted tumours.

Tissue-adhesive wirelessly powered optoelectronic device for metronomic photodynamic cancer therapy