## 3 Results  
The chitosan adhesive adhered to all corneas tested. It was easy to manipulate the pre-activated adhesive on the ocular surface and the adhesive property could be activated on-demand. Before laser activation, the chitosan adhesive was \"sticky\" on the dried but moist corneal surface. Once activated, this chitosan adhesive became firmly adherent to the anterior corneal surface. 2, 4 and 6 mm wounds sealed with chitosan adhesive tolerated average burst pressures of 239.2 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)102.4), 181.7 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)72.8) and 77.4 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)37.4), (\(p<0.00001\)) respectively (Figure 2). All observed leakages during testing occurred beneath the intact chitosan adhesive. The burst pressures obtained with chitosan adhesive were significantly higher than sutured or self-sealed wounds of identical sizes. However, the burst pressure obtained from cyanoacrylate glue was significantly higher than chitosan adhesive for wounds of identical sizes. For 2 mm wounds, the average burst pressure from chitosan adhesive was 239.2 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)102.4), while self-sealed 2 mm wounds returned an average of 36.4 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)14.7). For a wound of the same size closed with Histoacryl(r) cyanoacrylate glue, the average burst pressure was 698.0 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)240.3). There was a statistically significant difference between the three groups (\(p<0.00001\)). For 2 mm wounds, chitosan adhesive tolerated higher burst pressure than self-sealed, but lower burst pressure than that attained by cyanoacrylate glue. Figure 3 below illustrates the average burst pressure of 2 mm corneal wounds by each closure modality. For 4 mm wounds, the average burst pressure from chitosan adhesive was 181.7 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)72.8), while self-sealed wounds returned an average of 4.8 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)4.9) and wounds sutured with X2 10-0 nylon generated 33.0 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)19.0). For a wound of the same size closed with Histoacryl(r) cyanoacrylate glue, the average burst pressure was 494.3 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)324.6). There was a statistically significant difference between the four groups (\(p\) < 0.00001). Overall, with 4 mm wounds, chitosan adhesive tolerated higher burst pressure than self-sealed and sutured wounds, but lower burst pressure than that attained by cyanoacrylate glue. Figure 4 below demonstrates the average burst pressure of 4 mm corneal wounds by each closure modality. Figure 3: The burst pressure of 2 mm corneal wounds closed by self-seal, chitosan and Histoacryl®, \(p\) < 0.00001. Figure 2: Linear relationship of burst pressure (mmHg) with the chitosan adhesive versus wound size (mm). Coefficient of determination (R\({}^{2}\)) = 0.9729. For 6 mm wounds, the average burst pressure from chitosan adhesive was 77.4 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)37.4), while self-sealed wounds returned an average of 2.7 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)1.3). For a wound of the same size sutured with X3 10-0 nylon, the tolerated average burst pressure was 23.5 mmHg (SD = \(\pm\)17.4). There was a statistically significant difference between the three groups (\(p<0.00001\)). For 6 mm wounds, chitosan adhesive tolerated higher burst pressure than self-sealed and sutured groups. Figure 5 below shows the average burst pressure of 6 mm corneal wounds by each closure modality. The comparative burst pressures between different wounds sizes and treatment modalities is shown in Figure 6. While self-sealed wounds exhibited a relatively modest average burst pressure for 2 mm wounds, they displayed negligible burst pressures for 4 mm and 6 mm sized wounds. The application of sutures was able to increase the burst pressure for 4 mm (\(p<0.00001\)) and 6 mm (\(p=0.000246\)  
Figure 4: The burst pressure of 4 mm corneal wounds closed by self-seal, chitosan, Histoacryß and sutures, \(p<0.00001\). Figure 5: The burst pressure of 6 mm corneal wounds closed by self-seal, chitosan and sutures, \(p<0.00001\). wounds significantly higher than those closed by self-sealing.