CClinicalTrials.gg
WithdrawnNCT02061605LTW-KIDNEYUpdated Apr 6, 2022

First-in-Human Safety Study Of Laser Tissue Welding For Surtureless Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy

An interventional study of Laser Tissue Welding Device in Benign Renal Tumors and Malignant Renal Tumors, sponsored by Laser Tissue Welding, Inc.. Withdrawn at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-04-06.

Sponsored by Laser Tissue Welding, Inc. · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The objective of this pilot study will be to obtain a clinical safety and efficacy endpoint profile of laser tissue welding therapy for sealing the resected kidney surface after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy required for removal of resectable benign or malignant renal tumors in 10 patients.

Read the detailed description

SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE:

The use of partial nephrectomy to treat small newly diagnosed kidney tumors is vastly under-used as per NCI statistics (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/treatment/partial-nephrectomy0208).

As per the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, (http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/kidrp.html), the prevalence of cancer of the kidney and renal pelvis is 296,074 while the estimated new cases are 46,410 and deaths 13,040 in the United States in 2010 (www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/kidney).

There has been an increase in detection of incidental small renal mass (≤ 4cm) cases (TNM staging T1a) due to widespread use of ultrasound and abdominal cross sectional imaging (CT, MRI) and thus an increase in the amount of renal surgery performed. Current surgical practice for nephron sparing surgery allows at least 1 cm margin of normal tissue around the tumor3. This is the stage when curative resections are possible.

During a partial nephrectomy, the renal artery is clamped to minimize bleeding while resecting the tumor. Since a major reconstruction is required with suturing, clamp time can be significant, anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes. It has been repeatedly shown that reducing clamp time preserves renal function and that there is significant damage to the kidney if the renal artery is clamped for more than 30 minutes. This is especially crucial when dealing with patients with hypertension, diabetes, chronic renal failure or a tumor in a single kidney. Extended clamp time can result in decreased renal function and ultimately the need for dialysis at some point. Because of the inherent difficulties of laparoscopic suturing, this has not been widely used particularly in view of the risk of prolonged warm ischemia time. Many patients therefore undergo a radical nephrectomy instead of a nephron sparing procedure. Hemorrhage 9.5% (1) , is the major complication following partial nephrectomy. Besides bleeding (1) urinary fistula (4.5%), ureteral obstruction, and renal insufficiency due to prolonged warm ischemia times are further complications of partial nephrectomy.

Laser Tissue Welding is the first combination (laser and biologic) class III surgical device intended to join and seal tissues accurately and instantly. The treatment process uses thermal energy created when a laser excites photosensitive dye molecules, to coagulate the protein albumin which transforms from a liquid to a solid instantly. Laser tissue welding creates a non-compressive, non-ablative sealing of tissues with microscopic thermal damage. This combination of a laser with albumin biologics stops bleeding and fluid leaks in nanoseconds without using sutures, hemostatic clotting factors (platelets/thrombin/fibrin), thermal or cryoablation. (Video: http://www.lasertissuewelding.com/application.aspx?AID=8)

02

Conditions studied

  • Benign Renal Tumors
  • Malignant Renal Tumors

Keywords

  • Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy
  • Surgical hemostasis
  • Laser tissue welding
  • Tissue sealant
03

In context

Kidney Neoplasms

956 studies on the registry are indexed under Kidney Neoplasms; 210 are open to participants now.

Browse Kidney Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Laser Tissue Welding, Inc. is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. T1a (\< 4 cm). All resectable benign, primary or secondary malignant tumors of one kidney. No bi-lateral disease.
  2. Serum creatinine: ≤ 2.5 mg/dL
  3. Glomerular filtration rate greater than ≥ 50 ml/min/m2
  4. Platelet count ≥ 50,000/mm3
  5. Prothrombin time \< 18 seconds
  6. Partial thromboplastin time (PTT) ≤ 1.5 times control
  7. Serum albumin levels > 3g/dL (Normal range 3.5 to 5 g/dL)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Age younger than 18 years old
  2. Severe uncorrected hypertension
  3. Uncorrectable coagulopathies
  4. Pregnancy
  5. Active urinary tract infection
  6. T1b (>4 cm) lesion and above
  7. Systemic or local infection
  8. Subject has known allergy or intolerance to iodine or human serum albumin
  9. Recent febrile illness that precludes or delays participation pre-operatively
  10. Treatment with another investigational drug or other intervention during the study and follow-up period.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Laser Tissue Welding Device

    The laser tissue welding device is intended for use in patients requiring laparoscopic surgery requiring hemostasis and sealing of the resected kidney after partial nephrectomy, and including those patients who are fully heparinized or have hemodilutional coagulation failure. The device's intended use is to seal the kidney surface using a laser to weld human albumin based biomaterials after surgical removal of kidney tumors during a laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

    Device: Laser Tissue Welding Device

Interventions

  • DeviceLaser Tissue Welding Device

    Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy will be robotically assisted using the second generation da Vinci® Surgical System. Once the tumor is resected with laparoscopic scissors with a margin of healthy tissue, the solder will be dripped onto the cut surface of the parenchyma. A laparoscopic rigid 5mm spot-size laser hand-piece will be passed through the 10-mm port. The diode laser will be then used to weld a thin layer of solder onto the cut parenchymal surface. The 60 Watt 810-nm diode laser will be set to deliver continuous energy. During soldering, the tip of the laparoscopic laser hand-piece will be maintained 1 to 2 cm from the renal surface to generate a spot size of approximately 5 mm. Each spot will be treated with the laser until the color of the solder changes from green to white. The renal pedicle clamp will be removed to allow renal blood supply to be restored and the surgical site inspected for evidence of bleeding for 10 minutes prior to completing the surgical procedure.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Operative Blood Loss

    Operative blood loss is defined by: Volume of blood in the suction bottles, volume of blood clots, and weight of surgical towels before and after use. Clinical assessment of the blood loss: Clinical drop in hemoglobin (1 gm. % = 300 ml) without hemo-dilution. Therefore is correlated with blood products transfused to compensate for the blood lost during surgery.

    Time frame: Day 1

  2. Postoperative Blood Loss

    Clinical assessment of the blood loss: 1. Clinical drop in hemoglobin (1 gm. % = 300 ml) without hemodilution. Therefore is correlated with blood products transfused to compensate for the blood lost post-operatively. 2. Correlated to post-operative JP tube drainage, amount and type.

    Time frame: Up to 30 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Secondary hemorrhage or hematoma (safety issue no. 1)

    Post-operative blood loss requiring return to the operating room

    Time frame: Up to 12 months

  2. Post-operative urinary leakage/ urinoma (safety issue no. 2)

    Urinary leakage is measured in drainage bottles (ml/day) following surgery till a drain placed during the operation is removed before patient discharge. Accumulation of fluids around the kidney (blood or urine) will be assessed with U/S and CT scan at the mentioned time points.

    Time frame: Up to 12 months

  3. Secondary infection, intra-abdominal abscess formation and septicemia (safety issue no. 3)

    Surgical space abscess

    Time frame: Up to 12 months

  4. Urinary stone formation (safety issue no. 4)

    To see if the protein solder is a nidus for stone formation

    Time frame: Up to 12 months

Other outcomes

  1. Total operating time (minutes) (Duration Metric -1)

    Observed operative period

    Time frame: Day 1

  2. Nephrectomy clamp time (minutes) (Duration Metric-2)

    Observed intra-operatively. Assesses organ ischemia time and will correlate with compromised renal function post-surgery.

    Time frame: Day 1

  3. Laser tissue welding time (sec/cm2) (Duration Metric-3)

    Observed intra-operatively: Cumulative time to complete hemostasis. This will be compared to current standard of care time-to-hemostasis using suture closure which is anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes since a major renal reconstruction is required with suturing and therefore correlated to significant clamp time, renal ischemia and renal dysfunction.

    Time frame: Day 1

  4. Length of ICU stay (Duration Metric-4)

    Number of days spent in intensive care unit (ICU).

    Time frame: Up to 12 months

  5. Length hospital stay ((Duration Metric-5)

    Total time spent as an in-patient

    Time frame: Up to 12 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
    Houston, Texas 77030, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 6, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02061605
Lead sponsor
Laser Tissue Welding, Inc.
Collaborators
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 13, 2014
Start date
Jun 2016
Primary completion
Dec 2020
Completion
Dec 2020 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 6, 2022

Study contacts

RICHARD LINK, M.D.
principal investigator · Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Feb 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion