Biodegradable polymer film reinforcement of an indocyanine green-doped liquid albumin solder for laser-assisted incision closure.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine whether solid material reinforcement of a liquid albumin solder coagulum could improve the cohesive strength of the solder and, thus, the ultimate breaking strength of the incision repair in vitro.


METHODS
A 50%(w/v) bovine serum albumin solder with 0.5 or 2.5 mg/ml indocyanine green (ICG) dye was used to repair an incision in bovine aorta. The solder was coagulated with an 806-nm continuous wave diode laser. A 50-micrometer-thick poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) film was used to reinforce the solder (the controls had solder but no reinforcement). Acute breaking strengths were measured, and the data were analyzed by Student's t-test.


RESULTS
Observations of the failure modes indicate cohesive strength reinforcement of the test specimens vs. the controls. The 2.5 mg/ml ICG reinforced solder was stronger than the controls without reinforcement (P < 0.05) for all laser powers tested. There was no difference between the test specimens and the controls with 0.5 mg/ml ICG solder for low laser powers, but at higher laser powers, the reinforced solder was stronger than the controls (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Reinforcement of liquid albumin solders in laser-assisted incision repair seems to have advantages in terms of acute breaking strength over conventional methods that do not reinforce the cohesive strength of the solder.
Biomedical Engineering Laser Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. sorg@mail.utexas.edu
B S
BS
Sorg
K M
KM
McNally
A J
AJ
Welch
D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002417:Cattle; D007208:Indocyanine Green / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017075:Laser Coagulation / Q000379:methods*; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011108:Polymers / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014014:Tissue Adhesives; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000601:surgery*
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011108:Polymers; D014014:Tissue Adhesives; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D019344:Lactic Acid; D007208:Indocyanine Green