(11e) Plasmonic Nanocomposites for Laser Tissue Welding of Ex Vivo Porcine Intestine

Laser tissue welding is a surgical treatment to fuse apposing tissue as a suture-free alternative. An exogenous chromophore within a protein matrix, known as the “solder”, exposed to laser radiation generates heat to seal native tissue proteins. In this work, plasmonic gold nanorods were embedded within compressed collagen hydrogels, and these nanocomposites were placed over incisions in porcine intestine. The mechanical properties of the gold nanorod-collagen nanocomposites were modulated to minimize the mechanical mismatch with the tissue. Near infrared laser exposure resulted temperatures sufficient to seal the incised tissue while minimizing peripheral tissue damage. As high as 68% of the ultimate tensile strength and 48% of the burst pressure of native tissue was retained by laser treatment of the tissue with gold nanorod-collagen nanosolders, using much lower laser power densities than in previous laser tissue welding research.