Principal investigator: Shu Yang
Co-PI: Alexander Tucker
University: University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Industry partners: Vytrina LLC
Achieving both fast and strong adhesion in the high-tension areas of the body remains a major challenge for topical wound closure technologies. Current liquid scalp adhesives can effectively close many surgical incisions, however, they are irreversible, meaning patients must either wait for them to fall off (which can take weeks), pull them off surrounding hair (which can be extremely painful), or cut them out once the wound is healed. We have developed a hydrogel-based tissue adhesive patch that overcomes these limitations and enhances the patient experience by providing strong, reliable adhesion, sustained wearability on the skin and painless, on-demand removal. In partnership with our industrial collaborator, we will optimize the design and formulation of the patch while streamlining manufacturing. These efforts will preserve flexibility, ease of handling, biocompatibility, painless removal and wound healing with minimal scarring which we will validate in both large animal models and humans.