Multiscale design of bioadhesive platforms for next-generation applications in surgery and healthcare

Abstract

Bioadhesives—materials capable of adhering to biological tissues—hold significant promise as transformative tools in healthcare, offering the ability to repair tissues with ease and minimal damage. These materials present numerous opportunities in surgery and human-machine interfaces, creating a broad landscape of applications that has captivated clinical and scientific interest alike. Still, there remain open challenges surrounding their reliability, biocompatibility, usability, and versatility. These include weak adhesion with wet tissues, foreign body response, cumbersome application processes, and limited customizability. This dissertation presents a multiscale framework for addressing these obstacles, encompassing design strategies on the molecular, polymer network architecture, macroscale device, and application process levels. The implementation of this framework is demonstrated through the development of two pioneering bioadhesive platforms: (1) a multifunctional patch for minimally invasive surgery, and (2) a 3D printable bioadhesive for fabricating tunable, application-specific devices. Together, these platforms expand the design space for creating robust and versatile tissue repair solutions and biomedical devices.