Army medical personnel are often required to perform rapid hemostatic closure under combat or close-support field conditions. Wound closure in rear area medical facilities is carried out to preserve tissue, function, and the physical appearance of the healed superficial wound. Conventional wound closure involves suturing, which requires considerable time, effort, and skill. Recent experimentation is seeking faster, easier, and more effective ways to repair tissues. Many surgical adhesives, tissue sealants, and the use of lasers for tissue welding have been explored. Limitations include deleterious tissue response and ineffective bond strengths. With outstanding bond strengths and impressive healing results, our novel photoactivated naphthalimide compounds show tremendous promise in the field of tissue repair. In the current proposal, we are looking to further explore the use of naphthalimide compounds alone or incorporated into a biologically compatible filler material, which would be used to provide controlled delivery and to limit the required applied force. In addition to photochemistry, PhotoBioMed has significant strengths in optical fiber device development. The combination of an effective photoactivated tissue adhesive paired with an effective means for delivery and activation would facilitate future commercialization for both military and civilian medical applications. The impact of this research has the potential to apply to all tissue repair. We have found these naphthalimide compounds to be extremely adaptable and capable of being modified to suit various tissue environments. We currently have hydrophilic, lipophilic, and bipolar naphthalimide species that we use in a wide range of tissue types including effective bonding in skin, cartilage, cornea, dura mater, and arterial tissue. If the use of a filler material as a delivery vehicle proves as advantageous as proposed, this novel approach to tissue bonding will affect all fields of medicine.
Keywords: Tissue Bonding, Tissue Repair, Collagen Crosslinking, Laser, Light Energy, Biomaterials, Photochemistry,Naphthalimides
