Exoscope Update: Automated Laser Welding Of Circumferential Tissue Anastomoses

The speed, accuracy and efficiency of using laser energy to fuse together or weld living tissue makes laser tissue welding one of the most exciting areas of medical research today. Numerous investigators using animal models and several surgeons conducting clinical studies have demonstrated many promising potential applications of laser tissue welding. Accurate tissue positioning and well controlled delivery of laser energy during laser welding are essential for consistently successful laser tissue repairs. Many surgical procedures involve the creation of functional anastomoses, which are patent connections between hollow, tubular tissue structures, like bowel, blood vessels or fallopian tubes. We are developing the Exoscope SystemTM to automate and simplify the production of laser welded end-to-end and end-to-side anastomoses. Any laser light that can be passed through an optical fiber can be used in this system. The Exoscope SystemTM employs a fiber optic Exoscope Device,TM which provides for the precise placement of laser energy onto the abutted tissue seam, and a biocompatible, dissolvable intraluminal PolySurgeTM stent, which holds the tissue in circumferential apposition during lasing. The feasibility of employing the Exoscope SystemTM technique for the construction of rabbit small bowel anastomoses was successfully demonstrated in a Phase I study comparing 30 Exoscope SystemTM laser welded anastomoses to 30 conventional sutured anastomoses.