
Proceedings Paper
Cutting of biological tissue underwater by CO2 lasers: using the cavitation effectFormat | Member Price | Non-Member Price |
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Paper Abstract
Although the CO2 laser radiation has a very short absorption length in living tissue, it can still cause
extended damage around the incision. In order to reduce thermal damage in the tissue, one can
optimize the irradiation parameters of the laser. Anoter method for reducing the thermal damage is to
find a way to cool the tissue.
We were able to show that the thermal damage surrounding a crater made by a pulsed CO2 laser may
be reduced by irradiating the tissue under water. However, we first had to overcome the high
absorption of the water layer. We used a pulsed laser beam of high energy and high repetition rate to
create a stationary cavity in the liquid. Through this cavity the beam is transmitted to the material to
be treated. Using a simplifid model, we found that the height of the cavity depends on the repetition
rate and pulse energy of the beam but not on the pulse width. We also found that the temperature rise
in the liquid surrounding the cavity increases with pulse width.
In a series of experiments performed in bovine cornea, we found that the thermal damage
surrounding the incision caused by a CO2 laser beam was significantly reduced when the tissue was
irradiated under water, applying the cavity mode of beam transfer.
Paper Details
Date Published: 1 June 1990
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 1202, Laser-Tissue Interaction, (1 June 1990); doi: 10.1117/12.17642
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1202:
Laser-Tissue Interaction
Steven L. Jacques, Editor(s)
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 1202, Laser-Tissue Interaction, (1 June 1990); doi: 10.1117/12.17642
Show Author Affiliations
Ruth Wallach-Kapon, Tel Aviv Univ. (Israel)
A. Sa'ar, Tel Aviv Univ. (Israel)
Arieh Shalhav, Tel Aviv Univ. (Israel)
A. Sa'ar, Tel Aviv Univ. (Israel)
Arieh Shalhav, Tel Aviv Univ. (Israel)
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1202:
Laser-Tissue Interaction
Steven L. Jacques, Editor(s)
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