Colorectal cancer is the fourth-most prominent cause of cancer related fatalities across the globe. Conventional electrocautery techniques used in the resection of colon tissue cause a relatively high degree of collateral damage to the healthy tissues bordering the target sites. Ultrafast infrared lasers offer significantly improved localisation in the ablation of such biological tissues arising from a plasma-mediated ablation mechanism. This improved localisation is two-fold, with lateral confinement and precise depth control being advantageous in minimising thermal necrosis and avoiding bowel perforation respectively. Various laser scanning strategies and optical elements have been investigated, with the intent to exploit the inherent advantages offered from applying photonics to these procedures. Evaluation of the corresponding ablation characteristics was carried out using three-dimensional optical profilometry and histological analysis. If adopted in operating theatres, surgeons could benefit from more control when carrying out resection of neoplasia in the mucosal or submucosal layers of colon tissue, compared to previous electrocautery methods.

Date Published: 22 July 2019
PDF: 3 pages
Proc. SPIE 11075, Novel Biophotonics Techniques and Applications V, 110751N (22 July 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2527081

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11075:
Novel Biophotonics Techniques and Applications V
Arjen Amelink; Seemantini K. Nadkarni, Editor(s)