Closing a surgical incision usually involves sutures, which pierce healthy skin and can cause inflammation. Bioadhesive glues can solve this problem and also do not need to be removed later. Many of the currently available glues either have a low adhesion strength or are at least somewhat toxic.

Gaoxing Luo, Southwest Hospital and Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China, Malcolm Xing, Southwest Hospital and University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, and colleagues have developed a simple process which can transform egg whites into medical glue. The team air-dried the egg whites and ground them into a powder. The glue was then freshly prepared before use by mixing the powder with deionized water.

The glue’s adhesion properties were tested using glass slides, pigskin, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). It provided stronger adhesion than many commercially available medical glues, and even performed well under water. The team also used the glue to coat nanofiber membranes, which were then tested in vivo during wound healing in rats. It was found that the glue performed well and did not cause a long-term inflammatory response. According to the researchers, the material has potential as a medical glue due to its simple fabrication, inherent nontoxicity, and low cost.

• Egg Albumen as a Fast and Strong Medical Adhesive Glue,
  Kaige Xu, Yuqing Liu, Shousan Bu, Tianyi Wu, Qiang Chang, Gurankit Singh, Xiaojian Cao, Chuang Deng, Bingyun Li, Gaoxing Luo, Malcolm Xing,
  Adv. Healthcare Mater. 2017.
  DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201700132