A solution of PLGA nanofibers sprayed from an airbrush forms a mat that conforms to the shape of a surface, such as a gloved hand. Credit: ACS Macro Lett.
Polymer nanofibers have the potential to be used as surgical glue for sealing tissues, but current methods of applying the material, such as electrospinning, destroy living cells and are not appropriate for clinical use. A new technique, developed at University of Maryland, College Park, applies a strong coating of polymer nanofibers without damaging the tissues it’s meant to bind.
The method uses a common airbrush, popular with street artists and interior designers, and a mix of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) with acetone as the solvent, to simply spray the material onto a surface where it solidifies into a strong mass that keeps things together. To test how effective it may be for clinical practice, the material was used to seal diaphragmatic hernias, cuts to the lung, intestine, and liver in a pig model, showing no negative effects to the surrounding cells and completely biodegrading after 42 days.
From the study abstract in ACS Macro Letters:
Commonly fabricated using electrospinning, nanofibers are generated ex situ using an apparatus that requires high voltages and an electrically conductive target. We report the use of solution blow spinning to generate conformal nanofiber mats/meshes on any surface in situ, utilizing only a commercial airbrush and compressed CO2. Solution and deposition conditions of PLGA nanofibers were optimized and mechanical properties characterized with dynamic mechanical analysis. Nanofiber mat degradation was monitored for morphologic and molecular weight changes in vitro. Biocompatibility of the direct deposition of nanofibers onto two cell lines was demonstrated in vitro and interaction with blood was qualitatively assessed with scanning electron microscopy.
