Sea-Mussel Inspired Bioadhesives for Surgical Applications

Current methods of surgical joinery look as though they were devised in a medieval torture chamber. Sutures concentrate mechanical stresses, punch holes into healthy tissue, and create sites for infection. Patient outcomes will improve when we can devise alternate means of connecting tissues. Adhesives are appealing here. However, we do not yet have any materials that are simultaneously able to set in a wet environment, create strong bonds between tissues, and exhibit no toxicity. Further properties that are desirable include cure times compatible with surgeries, an ability to degrade, and having moduli (i.e., flexibility or stiffness) matched to the surrounding substrates. Our research team has developed sea-mussel inspired synthetic adhesives by taking cues from the way they attach themselves strongly onto surfaces in the ocean and synthesizing glues that mimic their chemistry. We have recently shifted our focus from synthetic to natural materials and developed inexpensive, bio-derived and non-toxic bioadhesives from corn protein (Zein )and Tannic acid (TA). Zein being a by-product of ethanol production from corn has been used as a wood adhesive. Tannic acid is a plant-based polyphenol and also one of the cheapest sources to impart sea-mussel inspired chemistry to any adhesive. We studied the <i>in vitro</i> burst pressures of these bioadhesives on several tissue substrates including sausage casings, porcine skin, heart, liver, lungs, aorta, dura and stomach. Our studies found these natural bioadhesives really promising with the ability to withstand pressures greater than the normal physiological pressures experienced in most of these organs. Moreover, we successfully conducted <i>ex vivo</i> studies on multiple tissue substrates to demonstrate the ability of our bioadhesives to plug body fluid leakages. We envision the potential application of our bioadhesives to seal surgical incisions and wounds under wet condictions.