Uniform and Complete Irreversible Electroporation on Gastric Mucosa Enabled by Sintered Silver Hydrogel

Irreversible electroporation is a promising nonthermal ablation for gastric mucosa, but nonconformal contact between the electrode and the rough surface of the gastric mucosa causes an inhomogeneous distribution of the high-voltage electric field. Here, we enhanced gap filling and substantially reduced distortion of the delivered high-voltage electric field by fabricating a soft, highly conductive sintered silver hydrogel as the bioelectronic tissue interface, thereby achieving uniform and complete irreversible electroporation. The sintering reaction was initiated by Cl⁻ and H⁺, which can work synergistically to partially eliminate the insulating surfactant on silver flakes, facilitating a sintering reaction through the dynamic redeposition of silver nanoparticles on silver flakes. Via a room-temperature sintering process, the conductivity of the hydrogel was promoted from below 1 to >10⁴ S/m at a low silver flake loading (4 vol%), and the mechanical property was still kept at a low Young’s modulus (91 kPa), even after swelling from digestive juices. In vitro experiments demonstrated that ablation uniformity improved by up to 86%, with the ablation area increasing by 30% to 52% and a maximum depth of 5.39 mm. Preclinical validation using porcine models demonstrated uniform, complete gastric mucosal ablation, reaching a depth of 2.50 mm, extending through the muscularis mucosae and leaving no residual cells. This sintered silver hydrogel-enhanced irreversible electroporation addresses key challenges and reinforces its potential as a reliable, advanced treatment for gastrointestinal lesions.