Abstract
We present the delivery of high energy microsecond pulses through a hollow-core negative-curvature fiber at 2.94 µm. The energy densities delivered far exceed those required for biological tissue manipulation and are of the order of 2300 J/cm2. Tissue ablation was demonstrated on hard and soft tissue in dry and aqueous conditions with no detrimental effects to the fiber or catastrophic damage to the end facets. The energy is guided in a well confined single mode allowing for a small and controllable focused spot delivered flexibly to the point of operation. Hence, a mechanically and chemically robust alternative to the existing Er:YAG delivery systems is proposed which paves the way for new routes for minimally invasive surgical laser procedures.
Highlights
IntroductionThe wide application of this laser in medical procedures is due to the high absorption coefficient of water contained in biological tissue of around 12000 cm−1 at this wavelength [1]
Er:YAG lasers emitting at a wavelength of 2.94 μm are widely used in medicine
Additional generic advantages of laser based procedures are that no pressure is applied, reducing the pain for the patient, e.g., in dental drilling [2], and the cut geometry is not limited by the drill/scalpel geometry but is dictated by the focused spot size which generally can be significantly smaller than traditional surgical tools
Summary
The wide application of this laser in medical procedures is due to the high absorption coefficient of water contained in biological tissue of around 12000 cm−1 at this wavelength [1] This leads to the unique capability of a small penetration depth and high ablation rates, with high precision and a minimal heat-affected zone. There are a number of solid core fibers operating at the wavelength of 2.94 μm, that have been investigated for this application, based on chalcogenides [3,4], GeO2 [4] or sapphire [5] All these fiber types were demonstrated to deliver high power multimode laser beams.
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