Principal investigator: Yang, Shu, Alexander Tucker
University: University of Pennsylvania
Industry partners: Archimedic Inc.
Patients undergoing surgical procedures could have their outcomes significantly improved by the next generation of wound dressing adhesives, which would also reduce risk and save cost. These dressings should ideally have high tensile and tear strength, be easy to apply, adhere quickly to the skin and be cost-effective. When currently available tissue adhesive is applied to the scalp, patients must either wait for it to fall off (which can take weeks), pull it off the hair (which can be extremely painful), or cut out once the wound is healed.
We have developed a hydrogel-based tissue adhesive designed for children and those with delicate skin, demonstrating exceptional adhesion strength, yet can be removed effortlessly on demand via hydration of the dressing. Working together with our industrial partner, we will manufacture wound dressing films to demonstrate conformability to the wound site, flexibility, ease of handling, biocompatibility and painless reversibility in both animal models and humans.