A startup spun out of MIT is developing a hydrogel-based adhesive that can seal wet tissue in seconds, aiming to replace stitches and staples in procedures ranging from heart bypasses to hernia repairs, MIT News reported.
SanaHeal, founded by MIT alumnus Hyunwoo Yuk, says its bioadhesive technology has already received regulatory approval to stop trauma bleeding. Next year, it will enter human trials to help control bleeding during surgery and repair various injured tissues.
Problem with stitches
Dozens of surgeries require joining two pieces of tissue, including triple heart bypass, C-sections and hernia and tendon repairs. Most are done by hand or with surgeon-controlled robots, and small errors in suturing or stapling can cause leaks with devastating consequences. Sutures and staples can also damage tissue, trigger immune responses and lead to scar tissue or infection. In microsurgery, Yuk said, needles can be thinner than a human hair.
How adhesive works
The material is a hydrogel, made of polymers and water, designed to be biocompatible so it minimizes immune responses and scar tissue buildup. Early versions worked like double-sided tape, using polyacrylic acid, an absorbent also found in diapers, to pull water from wet tissue and stick within seconds.
The company’s current bioadhesive can stick to wet and uneven surfaces and form air and fluid-tight seals. It was inspired by sticky materials in nature such as barnacles and spider webs.
Yuk said the approach is “more like a Post-it note” than suturing, which makes it less invasive and easier to use with surgical robots. Faster, more efficient procedures could also help lower surgical costs, he said.
From lab to startup
Yuk developed the technology as a master’s and doctoral student (SM ‘16, PhD ‘21) in the lab of Xuanhe Zhao, an MIT mechanical engineering professor. He began with the mechanical properties of hydrogels, then pivoted toward biomedical uses after talking with Boston-area doctors who described how often surgeons need to seal or attach tissue.
Yuk had planned to stay in academia but chose to lead the translation work after learning how hard it is for lab innovations to reach clinics. The team used MIT’s Deshpande Center, Venture Mentoring Service and Technology Licensing Office. Potential partners saw early regulatory hurdles as too risky, so the founders commercialized it themselves. SanaHeal was formed in 2021 with Deshpande Center funding.
A platform approach
The company first targeted wounds and bleeding, then shifted to surgery, where applications are more numerous. It supplies its technology to larger medical device partners developing products for open, laparoscopic and endoscopic surgeries, and for use with existing devices in sutureless implantation, such as hernia and nerve repairs.
“We have envisioned ourselves as a platform company from the beginning,” Yuk said.
Commercialization has taken longer than Yuk expected after nearly a decade of work. Seeing the technology reach patients, he said, would be rewarding.