Tissue welding!!!

Tissue welding has been around for sometime now. However, welding with just a laser is a rather weak fix and concerns have risen in which welded holes are reopening. Normal  tissue welding is used to weld holes in the intestines and after the removal of infected tissue in the body. So it would become a concern because the intestines do some rigorous work and reopen these new sealed wounds. With that said a new technique is being used with a new kind of glue that acts as a solder. This just adds the extra umph needed to keep the tissue sealed.  It uses a laser and special glue to hold the tissue together. What is really cool and what makes welding tissue is this glue actually has microscopic gold rods!! Holy welding gold is difficult enough but to weld microscopic rods must be even harder. Because it is glue and the material it is made of it also elastic and allows for the muscle to contract and stretch the way it needs to without causing a risk for reopening anything. However, it is still in the test phase. Because it has gold particles in it there is concern for toxicity later on. I suggest you read this article.

As a person who finds herself having to weld things from time to time (like my go-cart- self built btw and school projects - welding is related to geometry) I find this article particularly interesting; to be able to weld tissue is something that's amazing and it is a technique I hope to learn as a surgeon.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-lasers-and-glue-help-to-weld-tissue-ruptures