Abstract
In view of minimally-invasive clinical interventions, laser tissue soldering assisted by plasmonic nanoparticles is emerging as an appealing concept in surgical medicine, holding the promise of surgeries without sutures. Rigorous monitoring of the plasmonically-heated solder and the underlying tissue is crucial for optimizing the soldering bonding strength and minimizing the photothermal damage. To this end, we propose a non-invasive, non-contact, and non-ionizing modality for monitoring nanoparticle-assisted laser-tissue interaction and visualizing the localized photothermal damage, by taking advantage of the unique sensitivity of terahertz radiation to the hydration level of biological tissue. We demonstrate that terahertz radiation can be employed as a versatile tool to reveal the thermally-affected evolution in tissue, and to quantitatively characterize the photothermal damage induced by nanoparticle-assisted laser tissue soldering in three dimensions. Our approach can be easily extended and applied across a broad range of clinical applications involving laser-tissue interaction, such as laser ablation and photothermal therapies.
Highlights
Emerging light-based technologies have permeated many aspects of modern medicine, including medical imaging, diagnosis, therapy, and surgery [1]
The significant increase of temperature in the solder gel is due to the fact that the embedded gold nanorods (GNRs) (10 nm × 41 nm in size) can absorb most of the beam intensity and convert it efficiently to heat due to their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and the collective heating effect [10]
We have proposed a novel approach to perform simultaneous monitoring of nanoparticle-assisted laser-tissue interaction and 3D visualization of the photothermal damage induced by laser tissue soldering, taking advantage of the characteristic sensitivity of THz radiation to the water content in skin
Summary
Emerging light-based technologies have permeated many aspects of modern medicine, including medical imaging, diagnosis, therapy, and surgery [1]. Among those, laser tissue soldering is an advanced suture-less surgery method for wound healing. The basic principle is to use laser light in combination with a solder material, such as albumin, to “stitch” surface wound cuts together. When the laser light illuminates the applied solder, the underlying tissue heats up and a continuous bond is created, reconnecting collagen [2]. Advantages of laser tissue soldering over conventional sutures are a less inflammatory response of the tissue, a reduced chance of post-surgery infection, and no allergic reactions to foreign materials being introduced via traditional stitches [3]. Laser tissue soldering can be used to seal and connect complex and delicate tissues, including cornea [4], blood vessels [5], and nerves [6], that would be otherwise damaged by conventional suturing
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