A rapidly degradable tissue adhesive polymer for implantable medical devices

Tissuemed is a Leeds based medical device company, the principal activity of which is the
design, development and manufacture of innovative adhesive medical devices for use in
internal surgical procedures. The devices are based on the company’s proprietary
Tissuebond™ bioadhesive technology and its family of CE marked TissuePatch™ products
are designed to improve clinical outcomes and provide cost benefits to hospitals.
TissuePatch™ is an implantable device, akin to an internal sticking plaster and is used during
surgery to provide a sealing effect that prevents intra and post-operative leaks of air, blood
and CSF fluid.
To open the adhesive polymer technology to new markets, there is a requirement for a novel
second generation tissue adhesive polymer with well-defined and controllable/tuneable
properties to suit the different applications and product requirements of sealant films,
sprayable liquid glues, coated meshes, scaffolds and other medical devices.
The development of a new polymer and implantable medical device is a lengthy process. The
goal of this project is to undertake proof-of-concept synthetic and analytical chemistry
investigations into a novel tissue adhesive. Specifically, this involves the incorporation of
certain chemical functionalities into the polymer structure to enable fine-tuning of
performance and resorption characteristics whilst retaining the superior efficacy properties of
the existing Tissuebond™ polymer and without compromising safety and biocompatibility.