McGill University researchers have created a medical adhesive impressed by nature that may save lives.
Around 2 million people yearly globally go away from hemorrhage or blood loss. More than 30% of trauma fatalities are attributable to uncontrolled hemorrhaging. To cease the bleeding, medical doctors usually apply strain to the wound and seal it with medical glue. But what occurs when exerting strain is difficult or could make issues worse? Or the wound’s floor is simply too bloody for glue? Taking inspiration from nature, McGill University researchers created a medical adhesive that might save lives, modeled after buildings present in marine organisms resembling mussels and flatworms.
“When applied to the bleeding site, the new adhesive uses suction to absorb blood, clear the surface for adhesion, and bond to the tissue providing a physical seal. The entire application process is quick and pressure-free, which is suitable for non-compressible hemorrhage situations, which are often life-threatening,” says lead creator Guangyu Bao, a lately graduated Ph.D. scholar below the supervision of Professor Jianyu Li of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
In placing the brand new expertise to the take a look at, the researchers discovered that the adhesive promotes blood coagulation. The adhesive may also be eliminated with out inflicting re-bleeding and even left contained in the physique to be absorbed.
“Our material showed much better-improved safety and bleeding control efficiency than other commercial products. Beyond bleeding control, our material could one day replace wound sutures or deliver drugs to provide therapeutic effects,” says senior creator Professor Jianyu Li.
Reference: “Liquid-infused microstructured bioadhesives halt non-compressible hemorrhage” by Guangyu Bao, Qiman Gao, Massimo Cau, Nabil Ali-Mohamad, Mitchell Strong, Shuaibing Jiang, Zhen Yang, Amin Valiei, Zhenwei Ma, Marco Amabili, Zu-Hua Gao, Luc Mongeau, Christian Kastrup and Jianyu Li, 26 August 2022, Nature Communications.