title: Bioabsorbable polymer optical waveguides for deep-tissue photomedicine.
abstract: Advances in photonics have stimulated significant progress in medicine, with many techniques now in routine clinical use. However, the finite depth of light penetration in tissue is a serious constraint to clinical utility. Here we show implantable light-delivery devices made of bio-derived or biocompatible, and biodegradable polymers. In contrast to conventional optical fibres, which must be removed from the body soon after use, the biodegradable and biocompatible waveguides may be used for long-term light delivery and need not be removed as they are gradually resorbed by the tissue. As proof of concept, we demonstrate this paradigm-shifting approach for photochemical tissue bonding (PTB). Using comb-shaped planar waveguides, we achieve a full thickness (>10 mm) wound closure of porcine skin, which represents ∼ 10-fold extension of the tissue area achieved with conventional PTB. The results point to a new direction in photomedicine for using light in deep tissues.
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Koc University, Istanbul 34450, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nizamoglu
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK.
authors.forename: Malte C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gather
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Condensed Matter Department, J. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Matjaž
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Humar
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Global Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Center for Neuroscience and Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, 2066, Seoburo, Jangan, Suwon, Gyeonggi 440-746, Korea.
authors.forename: Myunghwan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4235-7003
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehakro, Yuseong, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Seonghoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ki Su
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, San 31, Hyoja-dong, Nam, Pohang, Kyungbuk 790-784, Korea.
authors.forename: Sei Kwang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park,Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scarcelli
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Division of Plastic Surgery and Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 40 Blossom Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Randolph
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Redmond
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 65 Landsdowne Street UP-5, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Seok Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yun
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants; D008511:Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D010777:Photochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers