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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Fabrication and Application of Rose Bengal-chitosan Films in Laser Tissue Repair
Published on: October 23, 2012
Semitransparent bandages based on chitosan and extracellular matrix for photochemical tissue bonding
Samuel J Frost1, Damia Mawad2,3,4, Richard Wuhrer5
1School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.
Background:
Extracellular matrices (ECMs) are often used in reconstructive surgery to enhance tissue regeneration and remodeling. Sutures and staples are currently used to fix ECMs to tissue although they can be invasive devices. Other sutureless and less invasive techniques, such as photochemical tissue bonding, cannot be coupled to ECMs because of their intrinsic opacity to light.
Results:
We succeeded in fabricating a biocompatible and adhesive device that is based on ovine forestomach matrix (OFM) and a chitosan adhesive. The natural opacity of the OFM has been overcome by adding the adhesive into the matrix that allows for the light to effectively penetrate through it. The OFM-chitosan device is semitransparent (attenuation length ~ 106 µm) and can be photoactivated by green light to bond to tissue. This device does not require sutures or staples and guarantees a bonding strength of ~ 23 kPa.
Conclusions:
A new semitransparent and biocompatible bandage has been successfully fabricated and characterized for sutureless tissue bonding.
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