Laser welding of biomaterials stained with indocyanine green to tissues (original) (raw)

This paper considers some issues pertinent to laser welding of elastin-based biomaterials to tissues using a pulsed diode laser (10-ms pulse) and indocyanine green (ICG) as an absorbing chromophore to localize laser heating to the "weld surface", the elastin/tissue interface where welding occurs. Experiments involved laser welding of elastin heterographs to the intimal surface of the carotid artery (in vitro, porcine) as a ~4x5 mm 2 spot weld, then determining the breaking strength when the two tissues were pulled in a direction parallel to the plane of the spot weld while submerged in water. The questions answered are: ¥ WHAT IS THE PEAK TEMPERATURE REQUIRED FOR WELDING ELASTIN HETEROGRAPH TO THE INTIMAL SURFACE OF CAROTID ARTERY? ANSWER: ~300 °C threshold, ~600 °C for maximum strength. This estimate is based on optical measurements of dye accumulation in stain layer and measurements of thickness of stain layer via fluorescence microscope examination. ¥ WHAT IS THE DEPENDENCE OF WELD STRENGTH ON THE LASER EXPOSURE?