New medical brain glue is inspired by slug mucus

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A new medical brain glue is inspired by - slug mucus.

During brain surgery, surgeons need to slice through the dural membrane (dura), the outer layer shock absorber that shields it from injury.

A new solution to re-sealing the dura has been developed by a collaborative team of bioengineers, including those at the Boston-based Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

The researchers, led by Wyss Institute Founding Core Faculty member and SEAS Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering David Mooney, Ph.D., demonstrated that their “Dural Tough Adhesive” (DTA) performed better than currently used surgical sealants in tests.

The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, detail "bioinspired engineering" that led the group to the Dusky Arion slug (Arion subfuscus), which secretes a special kind of mucus that it uses to rapidly glue itself in place to prevent predators from prying it off various surfaces.

In part by mimicking the properties of the slug’s mucus, the team developed a hydrogel consisting of two intermixed polymer networks.

The researchers demonstrated that DTA has repair-relevant features that are superior to those of existing surgical sealants.

A test showed it adhered significantly stronger to pig dural membranes and can withstand higher pressures before failing, compared to a commercial sealant.

A Wyss Institute statement says: "Superior mechanical strength is an important feature of DTAs, since increased intracranial pressure may be encountered in conditions such as brain tumors, stroke, trauma, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and hydrocephalus."

Senior study author David Mooney said: "We are excited to have opened a new perspective for neurosurgeons with this study that, in the future, could facilitate a variety of surgical interventions and lower the risk for patients who need to undergo them.

"This study also underscores how unique and well-understood advances in the design of biomaterials, like the ones we made in our Tough Adhesive platform, have the potential to impact multiple, very diverse areas of regenerative medicine."