Market Overview:
This surgical bioadhesive mitigates the complications associated with traditional suturing practices, potentially decreasing surgery and recovery times. By 2017, the market for high strength medical adhesive is projected to reach $800 million. Clinical need for bioadhesives has risen due to the movement to laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery over the last decade. Traditionally, sutures are used to close lacerations and stop soft tissue bleeding. Current sutures, however, lack adequate mechanical strength, compliance, and require additional surgical tools. Clemson University researchers have developed a hydrogel adhesive that combines thermally-induced physical crosslinking for near instantaneous gelation on contact with tissue and rapid chemical crosslinking via conjugate addition reactions. Ultimately, this bioadhesive overcomes suture limitations by chemically bonding to the soft tissue for wound closure, providing an appropriate adhesive to mitigate the complications associated with traditional suturing techniques.
Application Stage of Development
Surgical repairs; wound closure Preliminary Prototype
Advantages
• Exhibits superior strength compared to current internal surgical adhesives, improving clinical outcome
in terms of time and cost
• Demonstrates tunable adhesive properties, avoiding suturing complications
• Is biocompatible and compliant for expandable organs, allowing easy and safe incorporation for various
surgical adhesive applications
Technical Summary
To overcome inadequate strength, compliance and biocompatibility limitations of adhesives and sealants currently available, Clemson University researchers have developed an effective hydrogel surgical adhesive. Preliminary testing has shown that this formulation crosslinks within minutes and exhibits significantly reduced post-gelation swelling and higher tissue bond strength relative to PEG-based sealants. Additionally, this hydrogel adhesive has shown superior mechanical strength in burst tests performed on rat bladders that exceed physiological requirements. With modular functionalization of the hydrogel system, this bioadhesive has tunable properties for many surgical applications.
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Inventors: Charles Webb, Jiro Nagatomi, Olin Mefford, Lindsey Sanders, Roland Stone
Patent Type: Utility
Patent Number: 9,283,298
CURF Reference: 2013-056