This technology is a biomechanically compliant and loadable multilayered sealant for the prevention and treatment of pulmonary air leaks.
Technologies to seal pulmonary leaks have the potential to reduce many of the costs associated with prolonged air leaks. Though such biocompatible sealant technologies exist, their adhesive and mechanical properties make them poorly suited to the expansion, contraction, and other dynamic processes of the lung. Therefore, there is a continuing need for an effective lung sealant that can be used to treat pulmonary air leaks to avoid costlier surgical procedures.
This technology provides a superior pulmonary sealant by combining two components: a loadable extracellular matrix hydrogel carrier and a porous thermogel patch. The biosealant is multi-layered with a tissue-specific (e.g., lung parenchymal- or pleural-derived) extracellular matrix hydrogel carrier loaded with therapeutic cells, microsomes, peptides, or drugs. The sealant can be applied on the external surface of the lung, within the airways, or incorporated into existing medical devices such as medical staples in order to promote air-tight sealing. As such, this technology can be used post-operatively to treat air leaks or applied prophylactically to reduce the incidence of air leaks during pulmonary surgery, thereby reducing the risk of complications due to pulmonary surgery and improving patient outcomes.
A prototype of this technology has been validated in a lung injury model.
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Ph.D.
Patent Issued (US 11,291,747)
IR CU17095
Licensing Contact: Cynthia Lang
