Effects of hydration on laser soldering

Eric K. Chan; Dennis T. Brown; Ian S. Kovach; Ashley J. Welch

doi:10.1117/12.275049

22 May 1997 Effects of hydration on laser soldering

Eric K. Chan, Dennis T. Brown, Ian S. Kovach, Ashley J. Welch

Proceedings Volume 2970, Lasers in Surgery: Advanced Characterization, Therapeutics, and Systems VII; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.275049
Event: BiOS '97, Part of Photonics West, 1997, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

Laser welding with albumin-based tissue solder has been investigated as an alternative to surgical suturing. Many surgical procedures require the soldered tissues to be in a hydrated environment. We have studied the effects of hydration on laser soldered rat dermis and baboon articular cartilage in vitro. The solder is composed of human serum albumin, sodium hyaluronate and indocyanine green. We used a micro-pipette to deposit 2 (mu) l of solder on each tissue specimen. An 808 nm cw laser beam with irradiance of 27 W/cm² was scanned 4 times over the same solder area at a constant speed of 0.84 mm/sec. After photo-coagulation, each tissue specimen was cut into two halves at the center of the solder, perpendicular to the direction of the scanning laser beam. One half was reserved as control while the other half was soaked in phosphate buffered saline for a designated hydration period. The hydration periods were 1 hr, 1, 2, and 7 days. All tissue specimens were fixed in glutaraldahyde, then prepared for scanning electron microcopy analysis. For most of the specimens, there was non-uniform coagulation across the thickness of the solder. Closer to the laser beam, the upper solder region formed a more dense coagulum. While the region closer to solder-tissue interface, the solder aggregated into small globules. This non-uniform coagulation was likely caused by non-uniform energy distribution during photocoagulation. The protein globules and coagulum seem to be responsible for the solder attachment from the specimen surface. However, we have noted that the solder detached from the cartilage substrate as early as after 1 hr of hydration. On the other hand, the solder attached to the dermis much better than to cartilage. This may be explained by the difference in surface roughness of the two tissue types. The dermal layer of the skin is composed of collagen matrix which may provide a better entrapment of the solder than the smooth surface of articular cartilage.

Citation Download Citation

Eric K. Chan, Dennis T. Brown, Ian S. Kovach, and Ashley J. Welch "Effects of hydration on laser soldering", Proc. SPIE 2970, Lasers in Surgery: Advanced Characterization, Therapeutics, and Systems VII, (22 May 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.275049

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available