Marine Mussels Could Hold the Key to Faster Healing After Surgery

Medical adhesives based on the natural glue that marine mussels use to bond to rocks and a variation of inkjet printer technology could replace traditional sutures, resulting in less scarring, faster recovery times, and increased precision in delicate operations such as eye surgery.

Researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU, Raleigh, USA) used computer aided design (CAD) patterning to test various biological adhesives using piezoelectric inkjet technology, and decided eventually to focus on the nontoxic, biodegradable marine mussel adhesive protein, a formaldehyde-free natural adhesive that demonstrates excellent adhesion to several classes of materials, including glasses, metals, metal oxides, and polymers. To perform the test, the researchers used a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based piezoelectric actuator to control the flow of mussel adhesive protein solution through the ink jet nozzles. The researchers then used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy, and adhesion studies to examine the chemical, structural, and functional properties of these patterns, respectively. The researchers reported that FTIR revealed the piezoelectric inkjet technology technique to be nondestructive. The researchers also discovered that the adhesive strength of the adhesive materials was correlated with the extent of chelation by the Iron oxide Fe(III), determined by using atomic force microscopy to measure extent of chelation. The study was published in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research B.

"This is an improved way of joining tissues, because the use of the inkjet technology gives you greater control over the placement of the adhesive," said study coauthor Roger Narayan, an associate professor in the joint biomedical engineering department. "This technique may significantly improve wound repair in eye surgery, wound closure, and fracture fixation."

Traditionally, there have been two ways to join tissue together in the wake of a surgery: sutures and synthetic adhesives. Sutures work well, but require skill and longer operating times. Additionally, the use of sutures is associated with a number of possible surgical complications, including discomfort, infection, and inflammation. Synthetic adhesives, on the other hand, are also widely used, but they are the source of increasing concerns over their toxicological and environmental effects. One such concern with some synthetic medical adhesives is that since they are not biodegradable, they may cause inflammation, tissue damage, or other problems.

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