To seal wounds now staple or sutures is not necessary. Scientists has developed a surgical glue which closes wounds in the skin or the organs in seconds. The glue is a hybrid elastic protein made of methacryloyl-substituted tropoelastin. The name of the elastic gel is MeTro where “Me” came from “Methacryloyl” and “Tro” came from “Tropoelastin”. Biomedical engineers from the University of Sydney and the United States collaborated on the development MeTro.
The results were published 5th October, 2017 in Science Translational Medicine, in a paper by the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty of Science; Boston’s Northeastern University, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston.
The glue can seal up the wounds in 60 seconds. Hence, in emergency treatment the glue can be a life saver.
Initially the trial processing is running on animal like rodent and pigs. Trial on human skin is in processing. The glue doesn’t stop natural expanding and organ relaxing. So there have no risk of reopening. When the gel comes in contact with skin, it solidifies and activated by UV light and dissolves soon. While, the gel contains degrading enzyme which can determine sealant lasting duration.
According to Assistant Professor Nasim Annabi, Northeastern University. “The sealant accurately placed and tightly bond and interlock with structures on the tissue surface. The process resembles of silicone sealants that used around bathroom and kitchen tiles. The beauty of the MeTro formulation is that, as soon as it comes in contact with tissue surfaces, it solidifies into a gel-like phase without running away.”
The University of Sydney’s Professor Anthony Weiss says that “It responds well biologically, and interfaces closely with human tissue to promote healing. The gel can easily stored and squirted directly onto a wound or cavity. The potential applications are powerful – from treating serious internal wounds at emergency sites such as following car accidents and in war zones, as well as improving hospital surgeries.”
Science now upgrading fast passing the border of our imagination. Technologies that uses in fictional movies are turning into real world. Scientists are expecting that the glue will release soon in market to use in clinics and emergency situations after successful trial on human. The glue undoubtedly is a breakthrough in medical technology.
