Autopulsar-an alternative treatment mode for the CO2 medical laser

Ruth Anne Waters; R. Marc Clement; N. Richard Ledger; K. Williams

doi:10.1117/12.169143

15 February 1994 Autopulsar-an alternative treatment mode for the CO₂ medical laser

Ruth Anne Waters, R. Marc Clement, N. Richard Ledger, K. Williams

Proceedings Volume 2086, Medical Applications of Lasers; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.169143
Event: Europto Biomedical Optics '93, 1993, Budapest, Hungary

Abstract

When used in continuous wave (cw) mode the CO₂ laser is an effective tool for vaporizing unwanted tissue, however, there is the possibility of the accumulation of thermal energy in the good tissue close to the point of treatment. If this thermal energy is high then post operative pain and scarring could result. This is avoidable by delivering the energy in short pulses with the gap between those pulses being greater than the thermal relaxation time of the tissue (which can vary according to tissue type that is typically 0.5 to 3.0 ms). Simply chopping the laser beam rapidly would produce the desired thermal effect but would waste a large percentage of the laser energy and greatly extend the treatment time since the average output power of the laser is compromised. The ideal scenario is where the laser power is enhanced for the on period producing an average power similar to that obtained in cw mode.

Citation Download Citation

Ruth Anne Waters, R. Marc Clement, N. Richard Ledger, and K. Williams "Autopulsar-an alternative treatment mode for the CO₂ medical laser", Proc. SPIE 2086, Medical Applications of Lasers, (15 February 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.169143

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