Engineering an Injectable Tough Tissue Adhesive through Nanocellulose Reinforcement.

Abstract

Post-surgical treatment with tissue adhesives enables the closure of wounds and promotes tissue regeneration, which contributes to minimally invasive surgery. Although there are many clinically available tissue adhesives, compromises are made on either the tissue adhesion strength or biocompatibility due to inefficient material design. Here, we report a facile and versatile approach to engineer an injectable, tough tissue adhesive by reinforcing hydrogels with nanocellulose (NC). NC is a class of nanomaterial possessing unique structural features, such as high aspect ratio and superior mechanical properties. NC-reinforced hydrogels have improved mechanical strength depending on the NC concentration. The tissue adhesion strength of collagen casings and porcine-derived aorta and stomach tissues was drastically enhanced by the NC reinforcement of the hydrogels. This facile approach was applied to a variety of tissue adhesives and hydrogels, including poly(ethylene glycol), fibrin, protein-glutaraldehyde, and collagen-based matrix components. NC-reinforced hydrogels subcutaneously implanted into rats showed biocompatibility and degradability. This approach has enormous potential to improve the tissue adhesion strength of conventional medical materials and contribute to minimally invasive surgery.