What if, instead of sewing up surgical incisions with a needle and thread, you could weld tissue together with a laser and light-activated dye? According to research being done in Massachusetts, this so-called nano suturing method has the potential to reduce procedure times, scarring and infections by letting tissue heal itself more quickly and thoroughly.
According to Technology Review, researchers Irene Kochevar and Robert Redmond at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a suturing method that involves painting both sides of a surgical wound with Rose Bengal, a light-activated dye ophthalmologists use to detect corneal lesions, and beaming the light of a surgical laser on the dye to prompt the tissue to bond back together. "We call this nano suturing because what you’re doing is linking together the little collagen fibers" on both sides of the wound, says Ms. Kochevar in the report. "It’s way beyond anything that a thread of any kind can do."
Animal testing has shown promise for using nano suturing to close wounds in nerve, eye and blood vessel surgeries. Human tests have been limited to skin surgeries, and researchers are awaiting FDA approval for a dermatological application of the technique.
The laser-bonding method can’t be applied to subcutaneous tissue or dark or opaque tissues, since it only works on surfaces where light will penetrate. Cost is also an issue. Robert Stern, MD, chief of dermatology at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston, tells Technology Review that it’s not clear whether the benefits of nano suturing would outweigh the significantly greater expense of photochemical dyes and lasers vs. traditional sutures.
—Irene Tsikitas
