Infrared cameras have been used to monitor the thermal response of tissue to pulsed and continuous wave laser irradiation. A computer model has been developed previously to predict radiometric temperature estimations and demonstrate potential discrepancies between surface and radiometric temperatures. To quantitatively verify the modeling, experiments were performed in which gelatin phantoms (approximately 98% water) were irradiated with low-radiant- exposure (e.g. subablative) CO₂ laser pulses. Radiometric temperatures were estimated using a 3 - 5 micrometer band- limited thermal camera and compared to computer model predictions of the measured temperatures. By fitting model calculations to measured data, theoretical surface temperatures were determined as a function of time and the onset of nonlinear changes in the thermal response of tissue identified.

Date Published: 13 June 2000
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 3914, Laser-Tissue Interaction XI: Photochemical, Photothermal, and Photomechanical, (13 June 2000); doi: 10.1117/12.388021

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3914:
Laser-Tissue Interaction XI: Photochemical, Photothermal, and Photomechanical
Jeffrey O. Hollinger D.D.S.; Donald Dean Duncan; Jeffrey O. Hollinger D.D.S.; Donald Dean Duncan; Steven L. Jacques, Editor(s)