Doctors could soon begin sealing wounds using lasers than stitches

Making its way further in field of medicine, a new technology would soon let physicians seal skin wound through laser instead of stitches.

Researchers from Arizona State University demonstrated that instead of using stitches, they can repair animal wounds with a laser and some laser-activated nanomaterial. This laser seal is not only quicker to perform, but also stronger than many normal stitches.

The nanomaterial was made with the help of gold nanorods, which are integrated into a special type of purified silk. When a laser is shone onto the nanomaterial, the heat produced causes the silk to bond with the skin. This in turn creates a seal that is up to seven times stronger than traditional stitches. Also, though the laser heals wounds, but is not powerful enough to damage the skin.

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As per Digital Trends, the researchers created two formulations of their nanomaterial. One of them is a water-resistant version that will be used in liquid environments, such as surgery for removing a section of cancerous intestine. The other one involves mixing up the laser-activated nanomaterial with water, which can be applied to superficial skin wounds.

The procedure, though hasn’t been tested on humans yet, but has been demonstrated of effectively seal soft-tissue wounds in animal models. Researchers’ experiment included healing a wound in a pig intestine and one on mouse skin. For both the experiments, the laser-based method surpassed the alternative solutions like sutures., as per their research published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

“Our results demonstrated that our combination of tissue-integrating nanomaterials, along with the reduced intensity of heat required in this system, is a promising technology for eventual use across all fields of medicine and surgery,” researcher Kaushal Rege said.

“In addition to fine-tuning the photochemical bonding parameters of the system, we are now testing formulations that will allow for drug loading and release with different medications and with varying timed-release profiles that optimize treatment and healing.”