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. 2022 Sep 14;7(11):908–925. doi: 10.1038/s41578-022-00477-2

Fig. 4. Modes of retention on the mucosa.

Fig. 4

Different physical and chemical adhesive mechanisms (mucus-adhering (part a), mucus-penetrating (part b), mechanical anchoring (part c) and luminal confinement (part d) strategies) lead to a wide range of average retention times from minutes to months. In general, methods that penetrate or deplete the mucus and interact directly with the underlying mucosa offer longer retention, but at the expense of increased invasiveness. Luminal confinement provides the longest retention.