French firm Tissium is working to replace and supplement medical stitches with a fluid that attaches to tissue when exposed to light. A biopolymer made of fatty acids and glycerol – both of which are naturally found in the body – the liquid acts like a splint to hold the nerves in place while the tissue heals itself. It biodegrades after the body heals, leaving the nerves intact.
Peripheral nerves form a vast network of the nervous system, extending from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. When a cut occurs, often due to injuries caused by a knife or machinery, both ends need to be held in place while the nerve slowly repairs itself. Fail to do so, and you’ll experience symptoms ranging from tingling and no feeling at all to electric stabbing pain.
Aligning the severed nerves requires micro-stitches, which is “a very delicate technique,” says Maria Pereira, co-founder and deputy CEO of Tissium, “so we’re trying to provide a new and better way to prepare peripheral nerves in a consistent way, with a less painful case and better patient outcomes.”
The company ran a trial in the US on 12 patients who had injured nerves in their fingers. All 12 gained the ability to sense temperature, pain, texture and light touch in their fingers – a little more than 80 percent more than the other techniques. No one reported pain or device-related complications after one year. This treatment is already available for surgeons to purchase in the US.
“Although more evidence is needed, it is exciting to see more advanced biomaterials and regenerative medicine technologies at the disposal of the modern surgeon,” says Simran Chana, a surgeon, materials scientist and director of the Frontier Technologies Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. (Gram is not involved in the work of Tisium.)
Tisium has raised €30 million in private investment from venture capital firms and family offices to expand commercialization, as well as €30 million in debt financing from the European Investment Bank, the EU’s debt arm, the company told WIRED exclusively. The company will continue manufacturing its product, which received FDA marketing approval last year, in northern France.
The funds will also support development of applying the technology to other issues: Tisium hopes to enroll about 200 patients in a US trial to help the body heal after hernia treatment. Surgeons repair hernias by pushing the protruding organ or tissue back through the muscle wall and then strengthening the area with stitches and mesh. Currently, “there may be some inconsistency on how the stitches are placed, which could affect the results,” says Perera, who is also the company’s chief innovation officer. She adds that Tisium treatment can provide that stability, which in turn can improve the recovery process.
While she is finalizing the results of a European study testing the treatment on 78 patients undergoing hernia repair, Pereira says surgeons are able to apply Tisium’s goo 100 percent of the time and patients show signs of improved quality of life in terms of pain levels, recovery and activities, and lower hernia recurrence rates.
Tissium is also developing products for cardiovascular reconstruction, an initial application pioneered by Pereira while earning his PhD in bioengineering nearly 20 years ago. The company is preparing to launch a randomized pivotal trial in the US for its cardiovascular product, which the new funding will support.
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