St.Gallen/Zurich – Researchers at Empa have developed a new method of wound closure in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Laser and temperature control are used to solder wounds and avoid complications during suturing.
For more than 5000 years, people have been pursuing the technology of suturing wounds to allow them to heal naturally. According to a press release, researchers from the St.Gallen-based Particles Biology Interactions Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology(Empa) and the Nanoparticle Systems Engineering Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich(ETH) have developed a method that allows wound edges to be fused together using a laser.
This soldering process takes place under real-time temperature control. The team led by Inge Herrmann and Oscar Cipolato developed a bonding agent with metal and ceramic nanoparticles while using a nanothermometry process to control the temperature. According to the press release, the procedure should prove particularly effective in minimally invasive surgery. In a further step, the laser light is to be replaced by gentler infrared light. "If medically approved infrared lamps were used, the innovative soldering technology could be used in conventional operating theaters without additional laser protection measures," Empa researcher Inge Herrmann is quoted as saying in the press release. ce/ww