The development of a biologically based surgical adhesive for sealing or joining wet tissue is proposed. The material will overcome the problems of low-strength adhesion exhibited by currently available gelatin and fibrin surgical adhesives. The adhesive will be particularly effective at wet interfaces, at sites of active bleeding or in areas of high tension or pressure. The key innovation is the use of biologically safe proteins that have been modified to include highly-adhesive polyphenolic functional groups that displace surface fluid from wet tissue and form strong covalent bonds to the tissue during adhesive curing. These functional groups are responsible for adhesion in the high-strength water resistant protein glue produced by marine organisms such as mussels. In Phase I, adhesives will be prepared from polyphenol functionalized proteins through cross linking to form adhesive hydrogels and their efficacy as tissue adhesives evaluated in vitro as a function of compositional parameters. The adhesives will be compared with commercial gelatin and fibrin adhesives. In Phase II, surgical adhesive would be further developed through optimization of adhesive and elastomeric properties and evaluation of biodegradability, biocompatibility, longevity of adhesive bond and toxicity in several in vivo tissue types.
The commercial product is a surgical adhesive for internal use. The adhesive would be a two- part formulation for use in a variety of surgical procedures where sealing or joining of tissue is desired. EIC Laboratories would seek revenue through the licensing of adhesive technology.
