advanced medical technologies

Add to the list of naturally occurring glue sources — mussels, the C. crescentus bacteria, Australian burrowing frogs and the gecko ("geckel" glue) — the sandcastle worm.  University of Utah bioengineers have made a synthetic version of a superglue based on a naturally occurring glue produced by sandcastle worms, which use this glue to build tube shaped homes out of bits of sand and shell fragments.

The synthetic version of the sandcastle worm glue is being explored for its application in orthopedic applications — glueing together small bone fragments in fractured knees, wrists, elbows, and ankles, as well as the face and skull.  The applications will at least initially not be for gluing load-bearing sites like large bone fractures, since these can be addressed with screws and pins, while small fractures are more problematic for existing methods.

The researchers will be publishing their findings in the journal Macromolecular Biosciences.

Naturally occurring glues, especially those such as the above, which have demonstrated high strength, are particularly of interest for medical/surgical applications, since existing "biocompatible" glues such as autologous fibrin sealants provide reasonably effective sealing, and even hemostasis, but do not withstand the more challenging stresses of orthopedics and other applications like sealing leaks in lung resections.  The higher-strength alternative to fibrin sealants is cyanoacrylate-based glues, but for all their "superglue" strength, their toxicity is a limiting factor.  It is for this reason that naturally occurring "bioglues" like those from mussels, geckos and sandcastle worms hold such promise.

MedMarket Diligence is finalizing its report #S175, "Worldwide Surgical Sealants, Glues and Wound Closure Market, 2009-2013" for publication in December 2008.

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