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Ultrashort pulse laser ossicular ablation and stapedotomy in cadaveric bone * †
Author(s) -
Armstrong William B.,
Neev Joseph A.,
Da Silva Luiz B.,
Rubenchik Alexander M.,
C. Stuart Brent
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.10034
Subject(s) - ablation , laser , materials science , femtosecond , ultrashort pulse laser , laser ablation , ultrashort pulse , optics , pulse (music) , sapphire , biomedical engineering , cadaveric spasm , laser surgery , fluence , medicine , surgery , physics , detector
Background and Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ablation of ossicular tissue using a 1,053 nm Ti:Sapphire chirped pulse amplifier laser system configured to deliver ultrashort pulses of 350 femtoseconds (fs) (3.5 × 10 −13 seconds) in cadaver temporal bone. Study Design/Materials and Methods Ablation of the formalin‐fixed incus and stapes was performed using an ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) (0.4 mm beam diameter, pulse fluence of 2.0 J/cm 2 , and pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz). The ablation rate was measured using optical micrometry, and crater surface morphology examined using scanning electron microscopy. Results The laser produced precise bone ablation at a rate of 1.26 μm/pulse, with almost no evidence of thermal damage, and very little evidence of photomechanical injury. Conclusions Ultrashort pulse lasers may provide a useful clinical tool for otologic and skull base surgery, where precise hard tissue ablation is required adjacent to critical structures. Lasers Surg. Med. 30:216‐220, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.