We are investigating ways to exploit the significant advantages picosecond pulsed lasers can provide for high precision, minimally invasive surgery over conventional surgical tools. Combining a range of characterisation techniques in clinically relevant tissue models, such as high-speed imaging, surface profilometry and histopathological analysis of the laser ablated regions, allows us to control undesirable effects, such as cavitation bubbles, and optimise the ultimate precision achievable. Furthermore, by developing novel, hollow-core optical fibres we have overcome limits imposed by optical damage and non-linear effects delivering peak powers not possible with conventional optical fibres and significantly outperforming state-of-art technologies for laser delivery in surgery. The fundamentals of the laser tissue interactions will be discussed and also our current work on developing the novel optical technologies necessary to move towards devices that could be used in the clinic.

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Jonathan D. Shephard, Rainer J. Beck, Ioannis Bitharas, Katjana Ehrlich, Thomas I. Maisey, Ryan K. Mathew, James Moor, Andrew J. Moore, Robert R. Thomson, and David G. Jayne, "Towards precision tumour surgery with picosecond lasers," Proc. SPIE PC12411, Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics: Biomedical, Scientific, and Industrial Applications XXIII, PC1241104 (Presented at SPIE LASE: January 29, 2023; Published: 17 March 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2657516.6321500711112.