title: Thermal damage produced by high-irradiance continuous wave CO2 laser cutting of tissue.
abstract: Thermal damage produced by continuous wave (cw) CO2 laser ablation of tissue in vitro was measured for irradiances ranging from 360 W/cm2 to 740 kW/cm2 in order to investigate the extent to which ablative cooling can limit tissue damage. Damage zones thinner than 100 microns were readily produced using single pulses to cut guinea pig skin as well as bovine cornea, aorta, and myocardium. Multiple pulses can lead to increased damage. However, a systematic decrease in damage with irradiance, predicted theoretically by an evaporation model of ablation, was not observed. The damage-zone thickness was approximately constant around the periphery of the cut, consistent with the existence of a liquid layer which stores heat and leads to tissue damage, and with a model of damage and ablation recently proposed by Zweig et al.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Wellman Laboratories, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114.
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Schomacker
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Flotte
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Deutsch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006321:Heart / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007834:Lasers / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013997:Time Factors