Antimicrobial laser-activated sealants for combating surgical site infections

Abstract

Surgical-site infections occur in 2-5% patients undergoing surgery in the US alone, impacting 300,000-500,000 lives each year, and presenting up to 11 times greater risk of death compared to patients...

Temporal evaluation of efficacy and quality of tissue repair upon laser‐activated sealing

“…The LASE‐tissue interface (incision line) was irradiated at a rate of 0.5 mm/s with the NIR laser tuned to 808 nm (CW) for 1 min while keeping the incision line approximated using forceps. The laser was applied at an angle between 60° and 80° to the skin at a power density of ~5.1 W/cm 2 (~160 mW power output, ~2 mm laser beam diameter), corresponding to temperatures in the range of 50–60°C at the skin−LASE surface 15 . Closure of left and right incisions with sutures or LASE were randomized.…”

“…In this approach, laser irradiation of the LASE‐tissue interface and the concomitant photothermal response can facilitate interdigitation of LASE biomolecules and tissue proteins, which results in rapid sealing and effective repair of soft tissues. We have previously reported the fabrication and characterization of LASEs as an approach for the rapid sealing and repair of ruptured tissues 11–15 . The LASE system comprises of three components: (i) a matrix consisting of biomaterials, such as elastin‐like polypeptides, collagen, or silk fibroin, which integrate with the tissue upon sealing and act as a scaffold for aiding repair, (ii) chromophores including gold nanorods (GNRs) or the FDA‐approved dye, indocyanine green (ICG), which convert laser light energy to heat energy (photothermal energy conversion), thus resulting in a local increase in temperature, and (iii) a hand‐held near‐infrared (NIR) laser tuned to 808 nm that is used to carry out the tissue sealing procedure using LASEs.…”

“…Our previous results have shown that LASE‐mediated tissue sealing results in improved recovery of tissue biomechanical properties in live mice, compared to Vetbond, a cyanoacrylate‐based skin glue 11,14 . In addition to facilitating sealing and repair, LASEs can be loaded with antibacterial drugs in order to combat methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in at surgical site, thus protecting the tissue 15 …”

“…We have previously reported the fabrication and characterization of LASEs as an approach for the rapid sealing and repair of ruptured tissues. [11][12][13][14][15] The LASE system comprises of three components: (i) a matrix consisting of biomaterials, such as elastin-like polypeptides, collagen, or silk fibroin, which integrate with the tissue upon sealing and act as a scaffold for aiding repair, (ii) chromophores including gold nanorods (GNRs) or the FDAapproved dye, indocyanine green (ICG), which convert laser light energy to heat energy (photothermal energy conversion), thus resulting in a local increase in temperature, and (iii) a hand-held nearinfrared (NIR) laser tuned to 808 nm that is used to carry out the tissue sealing procedure using LASEs. The rapid bonding of wound edges mediated by interdigitation of tissue proteins, leading to rapid sealing, has been demonstrated for temperatures ranging from 50-60 C. 16,17 A recent report which investigated the effect of temperature on tissue sealing observed highest welding strengths of tissue at 55 C. Use of elevated temperatures greater than or equal to 65 C led to denaturation of tissue proteins and negatively impacted tissue tensile strength.…”

Complete Genome Sequence of the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strain SQL1/USA300, Used for Testing the Antimicrobial Properties of Clay Phyllosilicates and Customized Aluminosilicates

“…Additional virulence determinants included open reading frames for the luxA / C siderophore, lysostaphin protein A, and msrA macrolide efflux pump genes. Generally, the strain SQL1/USA300 data presented advance our ongoing development of novel MRSA infection treatment strategies ( 13 – 16 ).…”