A method to screen and evaluate tissue adhesives for joint repair applications

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Adhesive Technology

Background:

• Tissue adhesives are crucial for medical procedures, necessitating robust screening methods for new products.
• Existing limitations require versatile adhesives, making bond strength testing essential for product development.
• This study aimed to create an accessible method for evaluating tissue adhesives in tissue engineering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a user-friendly method for screening and evaluating tissue adhesives.
• To assess adhesive strength in various clinically relevant conditions using ex vivo models.
• To identify novel adhesive candidates for bone and cartilage tissue applications.

Main Methods:

• Designed tissue grips for reproducible substrate preparation and bond strength testing.
• Utilized porcine femoral condyles to create osteochondral tissue substrates.
• Evaluated adhesive performance in four operation modes (OM) simulating different clinical scenarios, including bone, cartilage, and defect repair.

Main Results:

• Test substrates maintained cell viability (>80%) for up to 48 hours.
• Fibrin glue adhesive strength varied significantly across operation modes (2.6–32.7 kPa) and increased with assembly time.
• A novel collagen formulation demonstrated superior adhesive strength on both cartilage (14.8 kPa) and bone (11.8 kPa) compared to fibrin glue.

Conclusions:

• The developed method effectively confirmed fibrin glue's adhesive properties and their dependence on test settings.
• The method proved suitable for screening potential tissue adhesives, identifying a promising candidate for cartilage and bone repair.
• This approach offers a simple, reproducible, and efficient evaluation of ex vivo tissue adhesive properties, complementing existing methods.