A Monash University researcher has developed a new form of surgical sealant which is proving easier to apply to skin and will ‘significantly reduce the risk of viral contamination'.

 

Surgical sealants are most important in the areas of lung or spinal operations, where air and cerebro-spinal fluid can leak through suture holes and cause secondary complications. It is hoped that the new sealant, developed by Dr Qizhi Chen and her team at the Department of Materials Engineering at Monash, will prove to be a significant improvement of current sealants.

 

"To be effective, a sealant must be sticky enough to allow the suture line to heal underneath, flexible, to allow for the body’s movement, and able to be absorbed by the body to eliminate the need for a second operation,” Dr Chen said.

 

“We’ve conducted initial tests on the new sealant and the results are very promising.”

 

“The major advantage of our sealant is that there’s no risk of infection because it’s synthetic. It’s not developed from human blood extract, like the current sealants on the market.”

 

The most common form of sealants currently in use are composed of natural materials extracted from human blood, such as fibrin. Although the natural sealants promote wound healing, their use involves a serious risk of blood-borne disease contamination such as HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis B.

 

“It can be pasted on as a liquid at 45 degrees celsius. This hardens into a flexible wax-like substance at body temperature. The surgeon has plenty of time to make sure the sealant is properly applied. Sealants currently in use can harden too quickly, meaning they’re not always applied as effectively as they could be. Our formula resolves this issue.”