Fluorescent-Chitosan from PolySciTech used in development of surgical glue for wound healing

 

During surgery or after trauma it is necessary to hold the cut pieces of tissue together as well as to control the bleeding. Conventional sutures and staples can be applied to generally close most tissues however there are several situations with either constrained spaces or certain biological features where these do not work well. In this case a biocompatible and biodegradable glue which can bind the tissues together until they can complete healing is preferred. Recently, Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used Fluorescently-bound chitosan (KITO-8) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) to visualize paste localization and clotting effect. This research holds promise to provide for a useful surgical tool in the future. Read more: Yuk, Hyunwoo, Jingjing Wu, Xinyu Mao, Claudia E. Varela, Ellen T. Roche, Christoph S. Nabzdyk, and Xuanhe Zhao. "Barnacle-Inspired Paste for Instant Hemostatic Tissue Sealing." bioRxiv (2020). https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.12.422505v1.abstract

“Whilst sealing damaged tissues by adhesives has potential advantages over suturing or stapling, existing tissue adhesives cannot form rapid or robust adhesion on tissues covered with body fluids such as blood. In contrast, the glues of barnacles, consisting of a lipid-rich matrix and adhesive proteins, and can strongly adhere to wet and contaminated surfaces. Here we report a barnacle-inspired paste capable of forming instant robust hemostatic sealing of diverse tissues. The paste is composed of a hydrophobic oil matrix and bioadhesive microparticles to implement the barnacle-inspired mechanism to repel blood through the hydrophobic matrix. Subsequently, the bioadhesive microparticles crosslink with underlying tissues under gentle pressure. The barnacle-inspired paste can provide tough (interfacial toughness over 300 J m-2) and strong (shear and tensile strength over 70 kPa, burst pressure over 350 mmHg) hemostatic sealing of a broad range of tissues within five seconds. We validate in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility and biodegradability of the barnacle-inspired paste in rodent models. We further demonstrate potential applications of the barnacle-inspired paste for instant hemostatic sealing in ex vivo porcine aorta, in vivo rat liver and heart models.”