Quantification Of Tissue Effects Due To A Pulsed Er:Yag Laser At 2.9 Gm With Beam Delivery In A Wet Field Via Zirconium Fluoride Fibers

R. F. Bonner; P. D. Smith; M. Leon; L. Esterowitz; M. Storm; K. Levin; D. Tran

doi:10.1117/12.937359

1 April 1987 Quantification Of Tissue Effects Due To A Pulsed Er:Yag Laser At 2.9 μm With Beam Delivery In A Wet Field Via Zirconium Fluoride Fibers

R. F. Bonner, P. D. Smith, M. Leon, L. Esterowitz, M. Storm, K. Levin, D. Tran

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 0713, Optical Fibers in Medicine II; (1987) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.937359
Event: Cambridge Symposium-Fiber/LASE '86, 1986, Cambridge, MA, United States

Abstract

Prototype Er:YAG lasers were used to generate 70-170 usec long pulses of 2.9 urn containing a series of lusec relaxation oscillation spikes which were coupled into prototype zirconium fluoride glass optical fibers of 180-250 urn diameter. Pulse energy densities in excess of 2400 mJ/mm2 were transmitted through these fibers without damage. Systematic studies of tissue damage by the Er:YAG laser pulses delivered to the surface of the tissue in a wet field via the ZrF4 fibers demonstrated effective ablative thresholds of 5 mJ/mm2 and slope ablative efficiency of 0.5 mm3/J for soft tissue such as human cadaver coronary artery. For heavily calcified tissues such as hard human calcified atherosclerotic plaque or rib bone ablative thresholds were increased 3 fold and the slope efficiency was slighlty decreased. Tissue thermal damage zone was confined to a region of 3-5 urn from the edge of the ablated zone for suprathreshold pulses. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of an Er:YAG laser - zirconium fluoride fiber microsurgical system for laser angioplasty and other forms of remote human ablative microsurgery.

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R. F. Bonner, P. D. Smith, M. Leon, L. Esterowitz, M. Storm, K. Levin, and D. Tran "Quantification Of Tissue Effects Due To A Pulsed Er:Yag Laser At 2.9 μm With Beam Delivery In A Wet Field Via Zirconium Fluoride Fibers", Proc. SPIE 0713, Optical Fibers in Medicine II, (1 April 1987); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.937359

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