Biomedical Engineer Collaboration Creates Life-Saving Surgical Glue

Orange County, CA - October 20th 2017 -  A common practice in organ repair is to suture or staple wounds together to ensure healing, however this process often proves difficult in hard to reach areas of the body. Additionally, the time it takes to treat the wound can allow further damage or infection to occur. To remedy this problem, biomedical engineers from the University of Sydney and the Wyss Institute at Harvard in Boston, Massachusetts collaborated on the development of the life-saving surgical glue, named MeTro, with the ability to seal open wounds in one minute.

Although other sealants are commercially available, none possess the elasticity, strength, and tissue adhesion necessary to treat wounds without the assistance of stitches or sutures. Ali Khademhosseini, Ph.D., and associate faculty member at Harvard’s Wyss Institute wanted to use his experience in the field to create a solution. Their study is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The researchers demonstrated that a sealant, based on elastin, can be photo-chemically tuned to successfully seal incisions in arteries and lungs of animals used in clinical trials, specifically rats and pigs. In 2013, inspired by the natural abilities of elastin fibers, Khademhosseini, along with Nasim Annabi, a Ph.D. at Northeastern University, and Anthony Weiss, a Ph.D. and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty of Science, started to explore the regenerative capabilities of tropoelastin, the precursor protein the body uses to develops functional elastin.

Biomedical Engineer Collaboration Creates Life-Saving Surgical Glue

Mimicking the body’s mechanisms, the researchers learned how to produce large amounts of the protein from different bacteria. Then, using a photo-crosslinking substance named methacrylate along with a pulse of UV light, they mixed different tropoelastin proteins in a solution to create the multipurpose, highly elastic hydrogel they named MeTro.

Once treated with a UV light MeTro sets in just 60 seconds. The technology has a built-in modifiable enzyme that can determine the sealant’s lifespan - from hours to months, for sufficient healing. Lead author of the study, Assistant Professor Nasim Annabi from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University, supervised the application of MeTro during multiple clinical settings and conditions. "The beauty of the MeTro formulation is that, as soon as it comes in contact with tissue surfaces, it solidifies into a gel-like phase without running away," she says. "We then further stabilize it by curing it on-site with a short light-mediated crosslinking treatment. This allows the sealant to be very accurately placed and to tightly bond and interlock with structures on the tissue surface."

Professor Weiss from the University of Sydney says the proceeding trials will be on humans. "We have shown MeTro works in a range of different settings and [is able to solve] problems other available sealants can't. We're now ready to transfer our research into testing on people. I hope MeTro will soon be used in the clinic, saving human lives."

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Ampronix is a renowned authorized master distributor of the medical industry's top brands as well as a world class manufacturer of innovative technology. Since 1982, Ampronix has been dedicated to meeting the growing needs of the medical community with its extensive product knowledge, outstanding service, and state-of-the-art repair facility. Ampronix prides itself on its ability to offer tailored, one-stop solutions at a faster and more cost effective rate than other manufacturers. Ampronix is an ISO & ANSI/ESD certified facility. To learn more go here.

 

Biomedical Engineer Collaboration Creates Life-Saving Surgical Glue Orange County, CA – October 20th 2017 –  A common practice in organ repair is to suture or staple wounds together to ensure healing, however this process often proves difficult in hard to reach areas of the body. Additionally, the time it takes to treat the wound can allow further […]