Measurement of Bond Strength of Direct Heat Tissue Fusion in Arteries

Tissue fusion is a method of joining tissue using heat and pressure. Several surgical tool companies have developed devices which perform tissue fusion on blood vessels in order to perform ligation of the vessel [1]. The success or failure of these devices is contingent upon the strength of the bond it creates between opposing sides of the blood vessel lumen, yet little characterization has been done to measure the strength of this interface. Previous studies have examined the strength of tissue fusion using clinically relevant metrics such as burst pressure or tearing strength, but none have explored metrics more appropriate for determining the mechanics of the actual bond, such as peel strength or shear strength [2–3]. These clinical metrics are susceptible to large variations due to tissue composition and geometry. The goal of this study is to measure the bond’s modulus and strength using standard engineering methods. The motivation of the present work is to develop a method for quantitatively measuring the strength of the bond made during tissue fusion. This method can then be applied to quantify the strength of the fusion interface between arterial tissue using other devices and aid in future evaluation and development of tissue fusion devices to maximize the bond strength.