Nanomaterials as tissue adhesives

Tissue adhesives are used to create functional bonding interfaces between injured tissue parts and between tissues and implanted biomaterials. This chapter provides a critical review of the conventional tissue adhesive materials and their shortcomings. Then it concentrates on the design approaches of emerging tissue adhesive technologies, particularly those using nanotechnology, with a primary focus on their clinical applicability. Various classes of synthetic polymers have been developed and applied as tissue adhesivesTheir defined chemistry and tailorable material properties, such as adhesion strength, curing kinetics, and mechanical properties, drove the motivation in this approach. The two major classes of synthetic tissue adhesives discussed in the chapter are acrylate-based adhesives and polyurethanes. Urethane-based adhesives have also been considered for use as soft tissue adhesives or sealants, because of their thermal stability at physiological temperature and absence of hemolytic behavior.