Laser Welding of Biological Tissue: Mechanisms, Applications and Perspectives

Matteini, Paolo; Rossi, Francesca; Ratto, Fulvio; Pini, Roberto

doi:10.1002/9783527632053.ch9

Cited by 9 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…(10) Laser welding and soldering were proposed decades ago as potential wound-closing methods. (11)(12)(13) Laser welding uses laser energy to alter the molecular structure of the joined tissues. The altered molecules in the biological tissue (especially collagen) can form bonds with their neighbors, resulting in tissue joining.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanothermometry-enabled intelligent laser tissue soldering

Cipolato

Dosnon

Rosendorf

et al. 2023

Preprint

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While often life-saving, surgical resectioning of diseased tissues puts patients at risk for post-operative complications. Sutures and staples are well-accepted and routinely used to reconnect tissues, however, their mechanical mismatch with biological soft tissue and invasiveness contribute to wound healing complications, infections, and post-operative fluid leakage. In principle, laser tissue soldering offers an attractive, minimally-invasive alternative for seamless soft tissue fusion. However, despite encouraging experimental observations, including accelerated healing and lowered infection risk, critical issues related to temperature monitoring and control during soldering and associated complications have prevented their clinical exploitation to date. Here, we introduce intelligent laser tissue soldering (iSoldering) with integrated nanothermometry as a promising yet unexplored approach to overcoming the critical shortcomings of laser tissue soldering. We demonstrate that adding thermoplasmonic and nanothermometry nanoparticles to proteinaceous solders enables heat confinement and non-invasive temperature monitoring and control, offering a route to high-performance, leak-tight tissue sealing even at deep tissue sites. The resulting tissue seals exhibit excellent mechanical properties and resistance to chemically-aggressive digestive fluids, including gastrointestinal juice. The iSolder can be readily cut and shaped by surgeons to optimally fit the tissue defect and can even be applied using infrared light from a medically approved light source, hence fulfilling key prerequisites for application in the operating theatre. Overall, iSoldering enables reproducible and well-controlled high-performance tissue sealing, offering new prospects for its clinical exploitation in diverse fields ranging from cardiovascular to visceral and plastic surgery.TeaserIntelligent solders containing nanothermometers and thermoplasmonics offer new route to high-performance tissue sealing.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanothermometry-enabled intelligent laser tissue soldering

Cipolato

Dosnon

Rosendorf

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Laser surgery distinguishes from other traditional areas of surgery by the possibility of dissection, ablation, evaporation and welding of biological tissues with minimal concomitant injuries, reducing the likelihood of wound infection and minimising blood loss during surgery. Remarkably, laser tissue welding (LTW) provides fusing or uniting of edges of two opposing biological tissue segments by the photoexcitation of their native chromophores and water, where only light acts as the bonding catalyst [7][8][9][10]. Numerous studies using a range of histological and morphological methods confirmed that the welding of the tissue occurs by the fusion of collagen and elastin fibres [11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autofluorescence guided welding of heart tissue by laser pulse bursts at 1550 nm

Litvinova

Chernysheva

Stegemann

et al. 2020

Biomed. Opt. Express

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Wound healing and other surgical technologies traditionally solved by suturing and stapling have recently been enhanced by the application of laser tissue welding. The usage of high energy laser radiation to anastomose tissues eliminates a foreign body reaction, reduces scar formation, and allows for the creation of watertight closure. In the current work, we show that an ultrafast pulsed fibre laser beam with 183 µJ•cm −2 energy fluence at 1550 nm provides successful welding of dissected chicken heart walls with the tensile strength of 1.03±0.12 kg•cm −2 equal to that of native tissue. The welding process was monitored employing fluorescence spectroscopy that detects the biochemical composition of tissues. We believe that fluorescence spectroscopy guided laser tissue welding is a promising approach for decreasing wound healing times and the avoiding risks of postoperative complications.

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“…Remarkable examples of the biomedical use of lasers emitting NIR light include, among others, sutureless bonding and repair of biological tissue and the 'on demand' and localised release of pharmaceuticals. In these cases, the laser treatment is supported by the synergistic use of organic or nano-chromophores [4]. These chromophores generate controlled photothermal effects upon activation with NIR light, which can be modulated with a number of laser parameters such as intensity, irradiation time and modality of light administration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser-activated nano-biomaterials for tissue repair and controlled drug release

Matteini¹,

Ratto²,

Rossi³

et al. 2014

Quantum Electron.

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We present recent achievements of minimally invasive welding of biological tissue and controlled drug release based on laser-activated nano-biomaterials. In particular, we consider new advancements in the biomedical application of near-IR absorbing gold nano-chromophores as an original solution for the photothermal repair of surgical incisions and as nanotriggers of controlled drug release from hybrid biopolymer scaffolds.

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Laser Welding of Biological Tissue: Mechanisms, Applications and Perspectives

Cited by 9 publications

References 77 publications

Nanothermometry-enabled intelligent laser tissue soldering

Nanothermometry-enabled intelligent laser tissue soldering

Autofluorescence guided welding of heart tissue by laser pulse bursts at 1550 nm

Laser-activated nano-biomaterials for tissue repair and controlled drug release

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