Geshabelle B.
Apura
2012-49906
STS Individual
Project
Newly-developed Surgical Glue Brings Hope to
Broken Hearts
Scientists and researchers have
recently discovered and developed a new adhesive patch that could greatly help
solve and minimize the problems associated with infants born with congenital heart
disease.
The new adhesive patch or glue, as
reported in medical science journals, will help reduce the period of operation
and the inappropriateness of surgical procedures and thus, improve the result
of surgical operation on the patient (as cited in Science Daily).
In most cases, infants born with
congenital heart diseases or defects need to undergo repeated surgeries as they
grow. These surgeries need to be applied with sutures and staples. In many
cases, sutures and staples have problems and disadvantages. Sutures are
employed by piercing tissue which may cause damage. Moreover, putting in
sutures consumes a lot of time in the operation. For some time now, scientists
and researchers have been looking for alternative materials that could replace
or improve the performance of sutures and staples to achieve more efficient and
with very minimal drawback surgical procedures in treating infants with
congenital heart disease.
Not so long ago, a series of
studies related to cardiac adhesive development has been done and still
continues at the Gecko Biomedical, a privately-owned medical device company
based in Paris and France, by a biomaterials researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the person of Jeffrey Karp. This
study was prompted by a request to Jeffrey Karp by Dr. Pedro del Nido, a
cardiac surgeon at the Boston Children’s Hospital, to develop new materials to
be used for repairing congenital heart defects with the following criteria: the
material should not only be very sticky, but biodegradable, able to work in the
presence of blood, which can interfere with the action of some glues, and
elastic enough to move with the heart (as cited in Bourzac, 2014). Just like
cardiac surgeon Pedro del Nido, the utmost desire of heart surgeons who work on
babies, is to attach things without damaging the normal underlying tissues (as
cited in Yong, 2014).
The said study has successfully
resulted in the development of a cardiac surgical glue or adhesive that contain
revolutionary properties for minimal invasive heart surgery and vessel repair.
The said glue was formulated based on the combination of safe, naturally
occurring compounds that form a biocompatible pre-polymer with tunable adhesive
and mechanical properties. The said developed surgical glue or adhesive was
termed as hydrophobic light-activated adhesive (HLAA).
The above-mentioned developed
surgical glue is described by Gecko Biomedical as “soft and elastic when
applied to the wet surfaces of the wounds where it adheres gently to the
tissues, permitting fine adjustments or repositioning when used with the patch.
It is activated (polymerized) upon exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light to form a
strong, leak-proof but flexible seal, giving the surgeon full control of the
process. The adhesive can be engineered with mechanical characteristics similar
to arteries and the digestive system, where initial applications are targeted.
The authors also describe how the composition of the pre-polymer can be
adjusted for strength or rate of biodegradation to suit the wound being
repaired” (Gecko Biomedical).
Katherine Bourzac (2014), writer
of MIT Technology Review reported that
“Microscopy studies show that the polymer becomes physically entangled with
collagen and other proteins on the tissue surface.” Ed Yong (2014), one of the
authors of The National Geographic, reported that HLAA was formed from two
biomolecules, glycerol and sebacic acid, a substance Karp’s team created
earlier called PGSA. It was originally made to create scaffolds on which they
could grow new tissues and organs. One writer reported that HLAA was found to
be successful in repairing heart-wall defects in mice creating a watertight
seal. It was also tested in pigs in attaching patches to their hearts and shows
that the patches remained attached even at increased heart rates and blood
pressure. It was further reported that it was found to be successful in sealing
damaged carotid arteries. (Bourzac, 2014)
The development of the said
surgical glue, when perfected, could bring in great improvement in the surgical
processes involved in infant patients with congenital heart disease. Hundreds
of thousands could benefit with this new technology.
Reference
List
Brigham and
Women’s Hospital. 2014. Bio-inspired glue keeps hearts securely sealed. Science
Daily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140108154458.htm. March 3, 2014
Bourzac,
Katherine. 2014. Surgical Glue to Mend Broken Hearts. MIT Technology Review. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523356/surgical-glue-to-mend-broken-hearts/. March 3,
2014.
Gecko
Biomedical. 2014. Innovative adhesive technology published as a cover feature
in the high impact journal, Science Translational Medicine. http://www.geckobiomedical.com/news/gecko-biomedicals-co-founde.html. March 3, 2014
Yong, Ed. 2014.
New Blood-Resistant Glue Mends Broken Hearts Without Sutures. National
Geographic. http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/08/new-blood-resistant-glue-mends-broken-hearts-without-sutures/. March 3, 2014
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