The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation-Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is a new biocompatible, antimicrobial and transparent adhesive for corneal repair and grafting that will significantly reduce costs of extended and secondary treatment associated with current standards of care. Of the 2.4 million eye injuries yearly in the US, 600,000 are open globe corneal tears, leading to blindness in 50,000 cases. There are 18 million cases of such blindness worldwide. The annual corneal grafting market is 40,000 procedures nationally and an estimated 185,000 worldwide. The proposed product is expected to circumvent the limitations of current surgical approaches and postoperative cost and care in corneal repair. This would result in cost savings for the entire ecosystem, such as patients, insurance companies (including Medicare), and hospitals. The commercialization potential in the US and world markets can potentially generate job opportunities in research and development, marketing, and manufacturing. Additional technical teaching and outreach opportunities involving students from underrepresented backgrounds, women, minorities, and people with disabilities are targeted with this project work.
The proposed project presents a biocompatible and antimicrobial bioadhesive for corneal repair and grafting. Current standards of care include suturing and cyanoacrylate glue, which suffers from additional treatment costs related to astigmatism, secondary infections, cytotoxicity, and retinopathy. The proposed product is expected to mitigate these secondary problems with its biocompatibility, high adhesion, flexibility, and high strength. The adhesive will rapidly integrate corneal cells to facilitate wound sealing, reducing the chances of secondary infection and the associated incremental hospitalization and medication costs. The material transparency will enable rapid vision restoration. The material is strongly adhesive and antimicrobial, preventing accidental removal and offering excellent stability and high retention. The goals of this project will be accomplished with three main tasks. In the first task, the team will systematically explore the effect of experimental conditions on bioadhesive characteristics, such as tissue adhesion, biocompatibility, flexibility, transparency, and antibacterial properties. In the second task, degradation and retention of the bioadhesive will be determined by investigating the changes when applied to corneal tears. In the third task, the integrative capacity of the bioadhesive in vivo will be assessed by studying its effects on corneal cells, as well as the migration of corneal cells into the bioadhesive over time.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
