Interest of ICG blood clearance monitoring for reproducible 810-nm diode laser coagulation of blood vessels

Purpose: To evaluate a method of control of diode laser fluence leading to a reproducible ICG-enhanced selective photocoagulation of blood vessels. This method would use the chromophore clearance, i.e. ICG blood concentration decay to adapt the laser fluence. Materials and Methods: A skin flap window was used on hamsters. After a 15 mg/kg ICG solution injection, photocoagulation of vessels were performed. Results: Selective photocoagulation of blood vessels was obtained only during the first 10 minutes. The fluence required to obtain a selective photocoagulation of vessels (F) was modelized using a one compartment phamacokinetic equation: F equals Of(1-e^-t/(tau )). The best fit was obtained for a time constant (tau) equals 4.8 min and Of equals 300 J/cm² (correlation coefficient r² equals 0.996). During the first 10 minutes, the fluence required for selective photocoagulation of vessels was increased by a factor 4.5. Conclusion: Fluence required for a selective photocoagulation of vessels was correlated to ICG blood concentration decay. The time constant was equivalent to ICG half-life time in human blood. These results demonstrate that diode laser ICG-enhanced photocoagulation can be controlled by monitoring the ICG blood clearance.