This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to develop a novel bioadhesive construct to help repair rotator cuff tears. Current methods are limited and frequently result in repair failure. Marine mussels provide the inspiration for the technology presented in this proposal. By releasing rapidly hardening, tightly binding adhesive proteins, marine mussels can firmly anchor themselves to surfaces in wet, turbulent, and saline environments. Nerites' biomimetic synthetic adhesives will be combined with a commercially available graft to create a novel bioadhesive construct that will be secured over the entire repair site, adhere well, and support new tissue growth. Nerites thus expects to create a repair stronger than currently possible with conventional methods (sutures and suture anchors) alone. The broader impacts of this research are a potential reduction in re-tear rates as well as reduced time to rehabilitation. Both would provide a substantial economic and societal benefit by decreasing the recovery time and by reducing the cost of revision surgeries. The success of Nerites' proposed product could dramatically improve overall patient comfort, and offer several additional areas of value to both orthopaedic surgeons and patients undergoing rotator cuff repair, including increased surgical success rates, reduced number of failures due to poor bone quality, decreased operative time (due to the need for fewer sutures); and shortened patient rehabilitation time (due to the load-sharing of the adhesive implant). Such a product has large commercial potential. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)
