Tissue bonding of incisions is an important step in most surgical procedures. Conventional methods, namely sutures and staples, possess serious drawbacks, such as additional tissue injury, foreign body reactions, and difficult and tedious execution. Laser-tissue-soldering (LTS) can be faster, easier to apply, and less traumatic. In LTS, a protein solder is applied to the joined tissue edges and heated via optical absorption of laser light. Thermal alteration of the molecular structure of solder and tissue forms bonds leading to tissue fusion. We investigate a technique where the laser energy is absorbed by the chromophore indocyanine green (ICG), while the bonding strength is provided by the protein albumin. Our goal is to develop a standardized patch encapsulating both the ICG and the albumin solder, and the optimization of the temperature response.
