Preliminary study on the closure of the lens capsule by laser welding

摘要

We present a preliminary study of a new method, based on the laser welding of suitably prepared patches of capsular tissue for the closure of capsulorhexes in the lens capsule. This technique is proposed for the repair capsular breaks or tears caused by accidental traumas or ones produced intraoperatively during standard IOL implantation. Experiments were carried out ex vivo on freshly enucleated porcine eyes. Patches of anterior capsular tissue, collected from donor eyes, were stained with a solution of Indocyanine Green (ICG) in sterile water. Closure tests on a capsulorhexis were performed by welding a stained patch onto the recipient capsule, using diode laser radiation at 810 nm, which greatly absorbed by the ICG-stained tissue. Laser radiation was delivered by means of a 200-micron-core-fiber, the tip of which was gently pressed onto the patch surface (contact welding technique) so as to produce effective tissue welding in underwater conditions. Laser-welded capsular tissue was found to have good resistance to mechanical load, comparable in fact to that of healthy tissue.