No-scar skin graft promise

At the moment, they can be left with inflammation or scarring from the chemical glues, surgical threads or staples used to secure the graft.

A team from Harvard Medical School in Boston found that a dye called rose bengal, normally used to stain patients' eyes in ophthalmic examinations, could be the answer.

They found that when it is illuminated with a green light, it formed a strong bond with the surrounding tissue.

Skin grafts are used in cosmetic surgery, and for burns victims.

No tissue damage

The Harvard team tested the theory by using thin sections of pig skin which included the outer layer, the epidermis, and the dermis layer beneath.

Two sections of skin were placed dermis to dermis, with a thin layer of dye between.

These were then illuminated with a green light from a laser for 15 minutes.

The laser was only heated the skin to just above body temperature and did not kill or damage the surrounding tissue.

It was found that the bond between the layers of skin was 15 times stronger after the laser treatment.

It was also twice as strong as the bond from standard glues.

The research was published in New Scientist.

Plastic surgeon David Young, who runs the burns unit at San Francisco General Hospital, told the magazine: "If it ultimately works, it could have many uses beyond treatment of wounds - you could seal blood vessels or join tissues with sutureless bonds."

He the technique was too slow to be practical, but the Harvard team plans to use a more powerful laser in a bid to create a bond faster.

The research was also published in the Journal of Surgical Research.