Fiber Optics in Surgery
One of the vital steps of most surgical procedures is bonding the edges of human tissue. Surgeons use sutures, staples or adhesives to close incisions in tissue, which encourages natural wound healing processes. An alternative method, which has been known for 30 years, is to use laser heating.
Two approaches have been used for laser-assisted bonding: laser welding, in which a laser beam heats the approximated edges of incisions, and laser soldering, in which a biological solder is applied...
BioPhotonics, January 2008