Could a New Glue Help Repair Heart Wounds?

Of course, scientists have asked the age-old question. How do you mend a broken heart? And the simple answer is not with love songs and time, but glue, of course!

According to researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, they found that though suturing and stapling has been the go-to method for the closure techniques of cardiovascular defects and injuries, glue may prove more promising in creating a more blood-tight seal.

Lead study authors Pedro del Nido and Jeff Karp worked to engineer a surgical glue that is controllably adhesive even on bloody tissues. It's also flexible, biodegradeable and non-toxic. Known as HLAA, or hydrophobic light-activated adhesive, the polymer (poly(glycerol sebacate acrylate)) is known as a vicious gel that's used to close the wound. Application of ultraviolet light for a few seconds works to close up the scare via an elastic hemostatic rubber seal.

The product is currently being developed for market by European start-up Gecko Biomedical (Paris, France), and has raised $11 million in series.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Want to find out more information regarding the glue? Check out this video, courtesy of YouTube.