CHAPTER 6. Adhesives for Medical Applications

Adhesives are not only being used increasingly in the design of medical devices, but also in the field of application, both directly on and in humans, for example as a replacement for the suturing and stapling of tissue through adhesive bonding. The advantages of using adhesives include less tissue damage, no incorporated materials that require removal, and a better biocompatibility. In this context, adhesives in the broader sense also perform functions that conventional methods cannot, for example as sealants or blood hemostats. In addition to fully synthetic and semi-synthetic adhesives, an increasing number of formulations are finding their way into research as well as clinical trials or clinical applications that are based on concepts taken from nature (biomimetic) or are a combination of biological and chemical components or are of completely biological origin. The importance of medical adhesives is evident not only in the almost double-digit annual growth rates, but also in the number of publications in this field. The constantly increasing requirements for the approval (CE marking in the EU, 510k or PMA in the USA) of new adhesives (fully synthetic, semi-synthetic, or biological) and the development of such systems in accordance with these requirements and those of the user (medical practitioners) still represent major challenges. This is partly due to the fact that development scenarios, such as the technology-push and market-pull approaches, are currently not being applied in a holistic and interdisciplinary manner.