After multiple failed surgeries, a bulldog with a hole in its mouth is now doing better because of innovative natural tissue glue.
"Oh I'm very grateful," said Papi's owner, John Shanahan. It was a last resort after surgeons struggled to close the hole at the MSPCA's Angell Animal Medical Center.
"There's not a lot of healthy tissue to work with, and when there's a hole, there's even less," said Doctor William Rosenblad.
The glue was invented by bio engineer Jeffrey Karp and his team at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The liquid hardens after being cured by a special light and turns into an elastic material that repels blood, saliva, and other liquids in the body.
"It will dissolve over time, and the patient's own cells can migrate on this material and form new tissue," said Karp.
Doctors believe it can also be used to treat other cases in dogs and cats and could have applications even for people.
"This has all kinds of different uses to seal tissues like in the gut, the intestines, the heart," Karp said .
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Researchers at Brigham and Women's said this glue in the process of entering clinical trials and could be used on people by as early as next year.
