MIT researchers and colleagues have created a waterproof adhesive bandage inspired by gecko lizards that may soon join sutures and staples as a basic operating room tool for patching up surgical wounds or internal injuries.
MIT’s gecko-inspired medical adhesive consists of a “biorubber” base patterned to have pillars that are less than a micrometer in diameter and three micrometers in height, layered on top is a thin coating of a sugar-based glue. Tests in live rats suggest that the adhesive could be an effective operating room tool for closing surgical wounds. Continued at MIT.
- More on this via Google News.
- Dig in deeper at Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab
Graphic courtesy / Edwin Chan and David Carter