Virginia Tech researchers are creating biocompatible adhesives for use with vascular tissue that will speed the process of mending tissue. They will present the research at the 227th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, Calif., March 28 through April 1, 2004.

The goal is to make it possible for surgeons to splice, reattach, or mend vascular tissue by applying a biopolymer coating and activating it with light, such as a laser, explains Timothy Long of Blacksburg, professor of chemistry in the College of Science at Virginia Tech. Another use would be as a stable, easy-to-use material that medics could apply to stop bleeding and prevent clotting.

Chemistry doctoral student Afia S. Karikari will explain the structure and characteristics of the novel polymer, how light causes it to change shape and function, and what the researchers have determined about the properties of several compounds that are candidates for a material that could make laser assisted vascular repair possible.

Karikari, a Packard Fellow, is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University. A native of Ghana, West Africa, she moved to the United States with her family and attended Pebblebrook High School in Mableton, Ga.

She will present the paper, "Photocrosslinking of star-shaped poly(d,l-lactide)s containing an ethoxylate core (Poly 368)" at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday, March 30, 2004, in the Garden B room of the Anaheim Coast Hotel. Co-authors are Craig Thatcher, professor and department head of large animal clinical sciences in the VirginiaMaryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and Long.

Abstract:
Star-shaped poly(d,l-lactide)s (poly(DLLA)s) containing an
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Contact: Susan Trulove
strulove@vt.edu
540-231-5646
Virginia Tech
30-Mar-2004