title: Ablation of bone and methacrylate by a prototype mid-infrared erbium:YAG laser.
abstract: An erbium:YAG laser was used to generate 200-microseconds pulses of mid-infrared 2.94-microns light in both the single and multimode configurations. Laser pulses were focused on the surfaces of both rabbit long bones and methacrylate blocks, and the tissue response was examined histologically. The depth of thermal injury was determined by ocular micrometry. Over all energy levels tested, the erbium:YAG laser produced ablation of bone and methacrylate with minimal thermal damage to adjacent tissue. Increasing the laser energy per pulse produced increasingly wider and deeper grooves in both bone and methacrylate. However, such increase in laser energy produced a proportionately greater increase in the zone of thermal injury in methacrylate as compared with bone. These studies suggest the feasibility of a surgical erbium:YAG laser in orthopaedics and other forms of ablative surgery.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, Irvine, CA 92715.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yow
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Liaw
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Macleay
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Zavar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orenstein
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Berns
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001843:Bone Cements; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004871:Erbium; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008689:Methacrylates; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements; D008689:Methacrylates; D004871:Erbium