Award Session: Silk-Gold Nanorod Nanocomposite Films for Rapid Tissue Repair

Laser tissue welding is a tissue repair technique that utilizes a chromophore to convert photons into heat in order to seal apposed tissue edges by localized protein denaturation and interdigitation. Laser tissue welding has emerged as a promising alternative to sutures or staples conventionally used for sealing soft tissues, with the potential to limit surgical complications such as anastomotic leakage and wound dehiscence while also reducing healing times and scarring. However, insufficient closure strength, surgical inconvenience, and extensive thermal damage have hindered the clinical application of this technique, largely due to the unavailability of effective solders (surgical sealants). In this work, we describe the development of novel plasmonic silk nanocomposites for laser tissue welding that overcome these barriers in tissue welding. Leak pressure, burst pressure, and tensile strength measurements indicated that laser welding using plasmonic nanocomposites was able to restore significant mechanical integrity to the welded tissue.