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Absorption characteristics at 1.9 μm: Effect on vascular welding
Author(s) -
Kung Robert T. V.,
Stewart Robert B.,
Zelt David T.,
L'ltalien Gilbert J.,
Lamuraglia Glenn M.
Publication year - 1993
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.1900130105
Subject(s) - materials science , welding , laser , optical fiber , absorption (acoustics) , laser beam welding , optics , radius , wavelength , attenuation coefficient , optical power , composite material , biomedical engineering , optoelectronics , physics , computer security , computer science , medicine
A 1.9 μm laser was used to investigate the acute weld strengths for anastomoses of rat and rabbit aortas and femoral arteries. The wall thicknesses for these vessels approximately matched the optical absorption depth of 125 μm for 1.9 μm radiation in vascular tissues. A low power (150 mW) 1.9 μm laser was used. Laser power was delivered through silica fiber optics for manual control. The fiber tip was held approximately 1 mm from the target resulting in a laser spot size of 0.7 mm at the tissue. The linear delivery rate was approximately 0.3 mm/sec. Acute burst pressures of the welds showed a linear correlation with the reciprocal of the vessel radius. These results suggest that the product of the weld strength times the optical absorption depth is constant over the range of vessel sizes studied. A weld strength for a weld thickness equal to the optical absorption depth was determined to be 4 × 10 6 dynes/cm 2 , which is comparable to the strength of sutured anastomoses. These acute studies suggest that a laser wavelength with absorption depth in tissue matched to the vessel wall thickness should yield optimum welds. Therefore, a laser operating near 1.9 μm is suitable for small vessel welding. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.