MeTro Gel Surgical Glue That Can Heal an Injury In 60 Seconds

The MeTro glue is derived from a naturally produced elastic protein called Tropoelastin. Researchers have developed natural elastic surgical glue that, they say, can seal wounds within a minute.

The potentially life-saving surgical adhesive, called MeTro (short for methacryloyl-substituted tropoelastin), was created by a global team of scientists and could eradicate the use of more common methods such as stitches or staples.

Biomedical engineers from the University of Sydney and the United States collaborated on the project.

MeTro is developed using a natural stretchy protein and used to seal wounds that are at the risk of re-opening, which continually expand and contract organs like the lungs, arteries and heart,

MeTro gel-like material also works on internal wounds in areas that are hard to reach for doctors and it had successfully tested on the lungs of rodents and pigs.

When treated with UV light, MeTro takes only 60 seconds to set.

The Metro Gel comes with an included “degrading” enzyme, which can be tweaked to coincide with the wound, healing process which could last anything from just a few hours to several months.

Anthony Weiss Professor in the Sydney University defined the method as resembling that of silicone sealants used around kitchen tiles.

“When you see MeTro, it acts like a liquid, filling the gaps and conforming to the shape of the wound, “no more common methods like stitches or staples is said by him.

MeTro Surgical Glue‘s speed could be hugely beneficial in emergency situations, by quickly healing the wounds of people severely injured in wars or accidents.

Another quality of MeTro is that it can mostly be programmed to last for as long as needed. This means it could be used on different types of wounds.

So far, MeTro has not yet been tried out on humans, but it has been successfully tested to seal incisions in the lungs and arteries of rats, and the lungs of pigs. Now, the next step is to test it out on people.

“We’re now ready to transfer our research into testing on people,” said Weiss. “I hope MeTro will soon be used in the clinic, saving human lives.”

Biologically it responds well, and interfaces closely with human tissue to help healing with his body. This gel is can be squirted straight onto a wound and can easily stored. He believes the technology could be used in treating serious internal wounds in emergency situations such as car accidents or war zones. Weiss says the next stage for the technology is clinical testing.