MIT Researchers Develop Tailored Tissue Adhesives to Seal Surgical Incisions
After undergoing surgery to remove diseased sections of the colon, up to 30 percent of patients experience leakage from their sutures, which can cause life-threatening complications.
Many efforts are under way to create new tissue glues that can help seal surgical incisions and prevent such complications; now, a new study from MIT reveals that the effectiveness of such glues hinges on the state of the tissue in which they are being used.
The researchers found that a sealant they had previously developed worked much differently in cancerous colon tissue than in colon tissue inflamed with colitis. The finding suggests that for this sealant or any other kind of biomaterial designed to work inside the human body, scientists must take into account the environment in which the material will be used, instead of using a “one-size fits all” approach, according to the researchers.
“This paper shows why that mentality is risky,” says Natalie Artzi, a research scientist at MIT’s Institute for Medical Science and Engineering (IMES) and senior author of a paper describing the findings in an online edition of Science Translational Medicine. “We present a new paradigm by which to design and examine materials. Detailed study of tissue and biomaterial interactions can open a new chapter in precision medicine, where biomaterials are chosen and rationally designed to match specific tissue types and disease states.”
After characterizing the adhesive material’s performance in different diseased tissues, the researchers created a model that allows them to predict how it will work in different environments, opening the door to a more personalized approach to treating individual patients.
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