title: Ex vivo laser thermoplasty of whole costal cartilages.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the possibilities of laser thermoplasty of whole costal cartilages for correction the human congenital chest wall deformities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ex vivo the samples of porcine costal cartilages were heated with lasers of differing wavelengths, including a 0.97-μm diode laser, a 1.56-μm erbium-doped quartz fiber laser, and a 1.68-μm fiber Raman laser. The dynamics of the temperature fields and the degradation of collagen in the laser-affected regions of samples were determined by using, respectively, thermometry, trypsin treatment, and light microscopy. Ex vivo the whole mechanically deformed costal cartilages of pigs were treated by laser radiation with wavelength 1.68-μm. The changes of cartilage shape were recorded at certain intervals over a 24-hour period by photographing them in a fixed position with a digital camera.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment of costal cartilage samples from 5 to 11 mm in thickness by laser radiation with 0.97, 1.56, and 1.68 μm wavelengths showed that the 1.68-μm radiation could produce the necessary nonuniform bulk heating of the exposed sample. The altered shape of costal cartilage proved to remain stable after treatment when the laser irradiation settings used provided for the heating of a broad region within the tissue to temperatures about 80°C.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates the possibilities of laser thermoplasty of whole costal cartilages for treatment of human congenital chest wall deformities. The development of novel approaches based on laser cartilage engineering techniques will enable to treat the human congenital chest wall deformities.
authors.affiliation: Institute on Laser and Information Technologies Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexander P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sviridov
authors.forename: Olga L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Zakharkina
authors.forename: Natalia Yu
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Ignatieva
authors.forename: Natalia N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Vorobieva
authors.forename: Nodar V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Bagratashvili
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Plyakin
authors.forename: Innokentii O
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Kulik
authors.forename: Oganes O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Sarukhanyan
authors.forename: Vladimir P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Minaev
authors.forename: Valerii V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Lunin
authors.forename: Victor N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Bagratashvili
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D066186:Costal Cartilage / Q000601:surgery*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D054023:Lasers, Semiconductor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013552:Swine
keywords: chest wall deformities; child funnel chest; laser reshaping; pectus carinatum and excavatum in children; stress relaxation in cartilage