ABSTRACT
To best determine the usage of tissue adhesives, such as fibrin sealants, it is important to examine the types of implants and the advantages of fibrin as a biomaterial. One way of determining optimal implant design is by developing a biocompatibility hierarchy. Acidic fibroblast growth factor (a-FGF) was chosen for bioactivity because of its angiogenic effect and stimulation of the key wound healing cells. Fibrin was chosen as the scaffold system because it can polymerize in situ, conform to the wound shape, serve as a drug-delivery system, has bioactivity, and can be useful for skin-graft attachment. Since a-FGF can be incorporated into the fibrin as it is polymerized, the growth factor may be trapped intrafibrillary. The release has been shown to be mostly by fibrin degradation. Therefore, the growth factor is only released by cellular phagocytosis and tied to the healing process, thus creating a biofeedback loop.
