This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to develop a novel biomimetic adhesive for seroma prevention. Commercial bioadhesives have demonstrated mixed results as they are hampered by weak adhesive strengths, the need to mix precursors, and undesirable degradation rates. Thus, there continues to be an unmet clinical need for the development of a new and improved adhesive for seroma prevention. Nerites Corporation has developed adhesives that are synthetic mimics of the mussel adhesive proteins that can bind strongly to rocks and ship hulls in a wet, turbulent saline environment. Nerites? new series of adhesives requires no mixing or dissolution before use, and demonstrates significantly higher strength than currently available adhesives. Therefore, Nerites believes that these new materials will significantly improve clinical outcomes of many patients suffering from seroma. The broader/commercial impacts of this research are a potential reduction in seroma formation, a postoperative complication in many surgeries. Although the market for Nerites? adhesives may eventually expand to include any surgery where tissue planes are separated, the initial focus involves procedures where postoperative drains are the standard of practice. The benefits that result from reduced use of drains include increased patient comfort, shorter hospital stay, reduced chemotherapy duration, and decreased risk of wound infection. Therefore, Nerites? initially targeted surgical procedures include mastectomy, abdominoplasty, and open ventral hernia repair, with a combined estimate of more than 500,000 surgeries performed annually, where incidences of seroma formation can be as high as 59%.
