Skin welding using pulsed laser radiation and a dye

Nathaniel M. Fried; Joseph T. Walsh Jr.

doi:10.1117/12.312295

1 July 1998 Skin welding using pulsed laser radiation and a dye

Nathaniel M. Fried, Joseph T. Walsh Jr.

Proceedings Volume 3245, Lasers in Surgery: Advanced Characterization, Therapeutics, and Systems VIII; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.312295
Event: BiOS '98 International Biomedical Optics Symposium, 1998, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

Previous skin welding studies have used continuous wave (CW) delivery of radiation. However, heat diffusion during irradiation prevents strong welds from being achieved without creating large zones of thermal damage to surrounding tissue. This damage may prevent normal wound healing. Strong welds and minimal thermal damage can be achieved by introducing a dye and delivering the radiation in a pulsed mode. Two-cm-long, full-thickness incisions were made in guinea pig skin. India ink was used as an absorber, and egg white albumin was used as an adhesive. A 5-mm-diameter spot of CW, 1.06-micrometer Nd:YAG laser radiation was scanned over the weld site, producing 100 millisecond pulses. The cooling time between scans and number of scans was varied. Thermal damage zones were measured using a transmission polarizing microscope to identify birefringence changes in tissue. Tensile strengths were measured using a tensiometer. For pulsed welding and long cooling times, weld strengths of 2.4 kg/cm² were measured, and thermal damage to the epidermis was limited to approximately 500 micrometers. With CW welding, comparable weld strengths resulted in approximately 2700 micrometer of thermal damage. CW laser radiation weld strengths were only 0.6 kg/cm² when thermal damage in the epidermis was limited to approximately 500 micrometers.

Citation Download Citation

Nathaniel M. Fried and Joseph T. Walsh Jr. "Skin welding using pulsed laser radiation and a dye", Proc. SPIE 3245, Lasers in Surgery: Advanced Characterization, Therapeutics, and Systems VIII, (1 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.312295

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KEYWORDS

Skin

Continuous wave operation

Laser welding

Pulsed laser operation

Tissues

Adhesives

Diffusion

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