LASER SOLDERING AND WELDING FOR OSSICULAR RECONSTRUCTION
MS Park
Dept. of ENT, College of Medicine, Hallym University
Seoul, Korea
To evaluate the possibility of laser application in ossicular reconstruction, Soldering and welding of bony tissue with various proteineous materials was performed by C02 laser and their bonding strength was measured with gradual weighting system. Albumin solution(40%, 20%), albumin powder, commercial and autologous fibrin glue were used as solder. Soldered and welded surface of bone was observed with scanning electron microscope.
Second, Welding of human ossicles and synthetic materials such as Polycel, Silicon, Bioglass ceramic, Aluminium oxide ceramic, Ionos and Silastic was tried using C02, Nd-YAG and Argon laser. Their morphological changes were observed and recorded. Scanning electron microscopic examination was also done.
In result, 40% albumin solution and commercial fibrin glue showed best strength. Bridging of denatured protein solder may be a mechanism of bonding. Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (Polycel) was melted by laser beam and melted one covered the surface of ossicle, but the bonding strength was not enough to use and exact measurement of bonding strength was not possible. These results suggested the possibility of laser soldering and welding in ossicular reconstruction, especially using ossicle or cortical bone.