This document provides fibrin hydrogels and methods and materials for making and using fibrin hydrogels. For example, this document provides fibrin hydrogels containing trypan blue (TB), Evans blue (EB), and/or one or more isomers thereof. Methods for making and using fibrin hydrogels containing TB, EB, and/or one or more isomers thereof also are provided.

Methods for treating tissue are provided. In one embodiment, an adjunct material, when secured to tissue, can receive at least one physiological element released from the tissue during healing progression of the tissue, and can exhibit first and second stiffnesses in compression that are approximately constant during first and second time periods from contact with the tissue, with the second stiffness decreasing with time as a function of at least one of oxidation, enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis, and change of pH resulting from interaction with the at least one physiological element. In another embodiment, the adjunct can receive a unit volume of fluid that causes first and second portions of the adjunct to expand according to first and second expansion behaviors that differ from one another to apply different pressures to the tissue.

Disclosed herein are cohesive soft tissue fillers, for example, dermal and subdermal fillers, based on hyaluronic acids and optionally including proteins. In one aspect, hyaluronic acid-based compositions described herein include zero-length cross-linked moieties and optionally at least one active agent. The present hyaluronic acid-based compositions have enhanced flow characteristics, hardness, and persistence compared to known hyaluronic acid-based compositions. Methods and processes of preparing such hyaluronic acid-based compositions are also provided.

Novel surgical sutures and novel medical devices made from novel semi-crystalline, glycolide-rich A-B-A triblock copolymers of glycolide and lactide, wherein said B-segment is a fully amorphous random copolymer of glycolide and lactide, for long term medical applications are disclosed. The novel polymer compositions are useful for long term absorbable surgical sutures, meshes and other medical devices, especially for patients with compromised healing. The novel sutures have improved properties and improved breaking strength retention, while still substantially absorbing within about a 120-day period post-implantation.

Polymeric particles are provided for use in therapeutic and/or diagnostic procedures. The particles include poly[bis(trifluoroethoxy)phosphazene and/or a derivative thereof which may be present throughout the particles or within an outer coating of the particles. The particles may also include a core having a hydrogel formed from an acrylic-based polymer. Such particles may be provided to a user in specific selected sizes to allow for selective embolization of certain sized blood vessels or localized treatment with an active component agent in specific clinical uses. Particles of the present invention may further be provided as color-coded microspheres or nanospheres to allow ready identification of the sized particles in use. Such color-coded microspheres or nanospheres may further be provided in like color-coded delivery or containment devices to enhance user identification and provide visual confirmation of the use of a specifically desired size of microspheres or nanospheres.

Blockchain environments may mix-and-match different encryption, difficulty, and/or proof-of-work schemes when mining blockchain transactions. Each encryption, difficulty, and/or proof-of-work scheme may be separate, stand-alone programs, files, or third-party services. Blockchain miners may be agnostic to a particular coin's or network's encryption, difficulty, and/or proof-of-work schemes, thus allowing any blockchain miner to process or mine data in multiple blockchains. GPUs, ASICs, and other specialized processing hardware components may be deterred by forcing cache misses, cache latencies, and processor stalls. Hashing, difficulty, and/or proof-of-work schemes require less programming code, consume less storage space/usage in bytes, and execute faster. Blockchain mining schemes may further randomize byte or memory block access, further improve cryptographic security.

The present invention provides tissue sealant compositions and vasculature closure devices useful for the optical detection of tissue seal and/or clot formation. Compositions and devices of the present invention comprise optical dyes which undergo an observable change as the compositions and/or devices are incorporated into a tissue seal and/or clot, for example a change in fluorescence quantum yield and/or a change in visual color including a change in emission and/or absorption wavelength. Tissue sealants and vasculature closure devices of the present invention are useful for visualizing seal and/or clot formation, for example, during or after surgical procedures, after catheter removal, etc. The present invention further provides methods for formation and optical detection of tissue seals or vasculature puncture closures as well as medical kits useful for the formation and optical detection of tissue seals or vasculature puncture closures.

Described are polymerizable fused tricyclic compounds of formula I:

##STR00001##

wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, m, n, t, and rings B, C, and D are as defined herein. The compounds absorb various wavelengths of ultraviolet and/or visible light (such as high energy visible light) and are suitable for incorporation in a variety of products, such as biomedical devices and ophthalmic devices.

The present technology generally provides biophotonic silicone membranes and methods useful in the management of scars. In particular, the biophotonic silicone membranes of the present technology are useful in preventing and/or treating post-surgical scar formation.

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition in form of emulsion or microemulsion and the use thereof as aid during endoscopic procedures in which it is injected in a target tissue in order to form a cushion. More in details, the invention relates to a method for performing an endoscopic procedure, which comprises injecting said pharmaceutical composition in form of emulsion or microemulsion in a target tissue of a patient, in order to form a cushion, which cushion is then optionally subjected to an endoscopic surgical procedure, such as a resection.