Polymeric Tissue Adhesives

Abstract

Polymeric tissue adhesives provide versatile materials for wound management and are widely used in a variety of medical settings ranging from minor to life-threatening tissue injuries. Compared to the traditional methods of wound closure (i.e., suturing and stapling), they are relatively easy to use, enable rapid application, and introduce minimal tissue damage. Furthermore, they can act as hemostats to control bleeding and provide a tissue-healing environment at the wound site. Despite their numerous current applications, tissue adhesives still face several limitations and unresolved challenges (e.g., weak adhesion strength and poor mechanical properties) that limit their use, leaving ample room for future improvements. Successful development of next-generation adhesives will likely require a holistic understanding of the chemical and physical properties of the tissue-adhesive interface, fundamental mechanisms of tissue adhesion, and requirements for specific clinical applications. In this review, we discuss a set of rational guidelines for design of adhesives, recent progress in the field along with examples of commercially available adhesives and those under development, tissue-specific considerations, and finally potential functions for future adhesives. Advances in tissue adhesives will open new avenues for wound care and potentially provide potent therapeutics for various medical applications.

Bioinspired Structural Composite Hydrogels with a Combination of High Strength, Stiffness, and Toughness

“…The hydrogel biodegradability could be potentially controlled depending on the requirements by modifying the polymer chains (Alg and PAM) with enzyme‐reacting functional groups or with non‐reactive long side chains (branches). [ 27 ]…”

Deformable and Robust Core–Shell Protein Microcapsules Templated by Liquid–Liquid Phase‐Separated Microdroplets

“…Such core-shell structures have gained increasing interest as nature-inspired phase-flexible constructs which can be exploited as biocompatible 3D hollow scaffolds to simulate organoids or mini tissues with cavity configuration, multi-release models, hierarchical bioreactors, tailor-made cells, or selective membranes to separate biomolecules statically and dynamically together with other progressive approaches. [11,[23][24][25][26] Developing core-shell microgels from proteins and their mechanical characterization is a key enabling technology in biomaterial mechanics research and regenerative medicine. Previous studies have showed the generation of core-shell non-protein microgels using two-step microfluidic techniques, 3D nested microcapillaries, or non-microfluidic methods.…”

Adhesive Tissue Engineered Scaffolds: Mechanisms and Applications

“…Conventional tissue adhesives and sealants could be used in cases of blood vessel anastomosis, lung leakage preventions, and incision closure. Examples of tissue adhesives and sealants are cyanoacrylates, albumin, glutaraldehyde, polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymers, and fibrin sealant ( Ge and Chen, 2020 ; Nam and Mooney, 2021 ). Tissue adhesives and sealants are also used as glue for the application of non-adhesive scaffold devices, aiding to fix the scaffold on the surface of organs and tissues ( Ma et al, 2021 ).…”