A new antimicrobial and biocompatible adhesive that’s used in corneal repair and grafting could possibly replace the use of sutures and conventional adhesives that tend to have adverse side effects in the near future.
Assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of California-Riverside, Iman Noshadi, developed the adhesive which can integrate rapidly to the corneal cells which then speeds up healing and reduces the chances of getting a secondary infection.
This groundbreaking technology by Noshadi can also lessen the complications that sometimes come with these types of procedures. As a result, there is also a lessened risk, cost, and healing time of the corneal transplants and eye injuries.
With at least 2.4 million eye injuries that occur yearly within the United States alone, at least 600,000 of these are open globe corneal tears which tend to lead to blindness in certain cases. Moreover, there are 40,000 corneal grafting procedures that are done annually as well.
Currently, the type of care for corneal repair are sutures and cyanoacrylate glue. Both of these methods have been linked to complications and added costs during the procedure, as well as after.
Some sutures that are used for bigger tears and in grafting can lead to vascularization, astigmatism, and infections. The cyanoacrylate glue, which is still not FDA approved, which can be used for only tiny perforations, tends to have low cytotoxicity, opacity, biocompatibility, and tends to cause infections and cataract that normally requires additional care and cost.
Noshadi said, “There is no FDA-approved material platform to replace the present techniques for corneal repair effectively. Our technology addresses all these issues, resulting in reduced operative and post-operative costs.”
This new product to come out of UC Riverside should hopefully resolve these secondary issues with its high adhesion, high strength, biocompatibility, and flexibility. These enhanced capabilities will allow it to not accidentally loosen or fall off, while the antimicrobial properties also helps prevent infections. With the adhesive being transparent, it also helps restore the patient’s vision quicker too.
This new material ‘is a biodegradable polymer that combines a choline-based ionic liquid – an organic salt with high water solubility and electrochemical properties – with polyethylene glycol, a biocompatible compound widely used in medical applications.’ These adhesives are able to attach quickly and strongly to the tissues, while its biocompatible nature permits ‘long-term regeneration of corneal cells.’
According to Noshadi, “Our gel will result in a safer procedure that will improve the patient’s quality of life with better health outcomes by preventing visual acuity loss or blindness. The simpler procedure will save time, reduce operative costs, and eliminate corrective surgery and need for extensive post-operative care.”
And with the $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Noshadi and his team hope to have their newly developed product out on the market by the year 2026.
Using the funding from the grant, Noshadi and his research group will be able to test the material’s tissue adhesion, transparency, biocompatibility, flexibility, and antibacterial properties. Then, they will also test the way it performs on corneal tears while studying its effects on corneal cells, and also see how the migration of the corneal cells into the bioadhesive works over time.
As soon as Noshadi’s corneal adhesive is approved for public use, he believes that corneal transplants will become less dangerous, easier to recover from, much more affordable, as well as more available for those that may need them.
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