Microtopography and Adhesive Coating for Wet Tissue Bonding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tissue attachment and closure techniques, such as sutures and staples, can damage tissues and induce inflammatory or toxic responses due to the lack of biocompatible adhesives that provide strong wet adhesion suitable for clinical applications.
Innovation Solution
Adhesive articles featuring microtopography and a thin coating of adhesive glue, which reduce the amount of adhesive required while achieving 90° pull-off adhesive strengths necessary for clinical applications, minimizing toxicity and adverse side effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a coating of adhesive glue is applied to achieve strong wet adhesion, then adhesive strength is improved, but toxicity and adverse side effects increase
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive system is segmented into two functional components: microtopography (physical structure) and adhesive chemistry. The microtopography provides mechanical interlocking and surface area enhancement, while the adhesive coating provides chemical bonding. This segmentation allows reduction of adhesive quantity while maintaining overall adhesion performance, thereby reducing toxicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The microtopography creates localized high-adhesion zones at the micro-scale protrusions and valleys. The adhesive coating is concentrated at these critical interface points rather than uniformly distributed, optimizing adhesion where needed while minimizing total adhesive material and associated toxicity.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the amount of adhesive glue is reduced to minimize toxicity, then harmful factors are decreased, but adhesive strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The microtopography transforms the two-dimensional flat surface into a three-dimensional textured surface with protrusions and valleys. This dimensional change increases the effective surface area and creates mechanical interlocking features that enhance adhesion without requiring proportional increases in adhesive material.
Solution Approach 2:
The microtopography creates a porous-like structure with protrusions and valleys that increases surface area and provides mechanical interlocking. This structure allows the adhesive to penetrate and anchor into the micro-features, achieving strong adhesion with reduced adhesive quantity and minimized toxicity.
3Strength
If conventional adhesive materials are used to achieve strong adhesion, then adhesive strength is improved, but inflammatory responses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the parameters of the adhesive system by introducing microtopography as a new physical parameter. This structural parameter enhancement allows reduction of the chemical parameter (adhesive quantity and concentration), thereby reducing inflammatory responses while maintaining adhesive strength.
4Strength
If microtopography is added to enhance adhesion with reduced adhesive, then adhesive strength is maintained or improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The microtopography can be integrated into the substrate material itself or formed through self-organizing processes. The structural features serve dual purposes: enhancing adhesion and potentially providing other functions such as cell attachment or fluid management, reducing the need for additional components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The combination of microtopography and a thin adhesive coating enhances adhesive strength on wet tissues, reducing toxicity and inflammatory responses, making the adhesive system suitable for clinical use with improved biocompatibility and performance.
Implementation Method 1
The micropatterned surface increases the surface area of the adhesive article, allowing for enhanced adhesive strength
Implementation Method 2
adhesive articles containing a combination of surface topography, such as micropatterning, and reactive chemistry
Data Source
Figure 1A~2
Figure 3A~4C
AI summary
Adhesive articles containing microtopography, such as microprotrusions, and a coating of adhesive glue, such an adhesive having known toxicity and/or tissue reactive functional groups are described herein. The articles described herein contain a substrate, a plurality of micro features, and an adhesive, such as an adhesive glue. The articles described herein exhibit a 90° pull off adhesion of at least about 1.5 N/cm2. The articles described herein can contain less adhesive than when the adhesive is used alone without microtopography and yet exhibit equivalent adhesive strength with little or no toxicity or other adverse side effects (e.g., exothermic reaction).