Design of Novel Mixer and Applicator for Two-Component Surgical Adhesives

Abstract

Current mixer and applicator devices on the market are not able to properly and efficiently mix two-component surgical adhesives in small volumes necessary to achieve economic viability. Furthermore, in these devices a significant amount of adhesive is wasted during the application process, as material within the dead space of the mixing chamber must be discarded. We have designed and demonstrated a new active mixer and applicator system capable of rapidly and efficiently mixing two components of an adhesive and applying it to the surgical site. Recently, Messersmith et al. have developed a tissue adhesive inspired by the mussel byssus and have shown that it is effective as a surgical sealant, and is especially suited for wet environments such as in fetal surgery. Like some other tissue sealants, this one requires that two components of differing viscosities be thoroughly mixed within a specified and short time period. Through a combination of compression and shear testing, we demonstrated that our device could effectively mix the adhesive developed by Messersmith et al. and improve its shear strength to significantly higher values than what has been reported for vortex mixing. Overall, our mixer and applicator system not only has potential applications in mixing and applying various adhesives in multiple surgical fields but also makes this particular adhesive viable for clinical use.