ATTACHMENT OF GELATIN FILMS TO TISSUE USING ARGON BEAM COAGULATOR

Cross-linked gelatin films were bonded to heart muscle and to lung ple ura and parenchyma using the electrical discharge of an argon beam rad iofrequency coagulator, The bonds were stable in warm saline buffer fo r minutes to hours. Bonding was thought to partly occur through a mech anical interlock of film and tissue elements. The interdigitation of t issue and film arose during exposure to the argon beam, which denature d protein constituents of both, and created a fluidized state that rap idly coalesced. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.