title: Controlling the temperature of bones using pulsed CO2 lasers: observations and mathematical modeling.
abstract: Temperature of porcine bone specimens are investigated by aiming a pulsed CO2 laser beam at the bone-air surface. This method of controlling temperature is believed to be flexible in medical applications as it avoids the uses of thermal devices, which are often cumbersome and generate rather larger temperature variations with time. The control of temperature using this method is modeled by the heat-conduction equation. In this investigation, it is assumed that the energy delivered by the CO2 laser is confined within a very thin surface layer of roughly 9 μm. It is shown that temperature can be maintained at a steady temperature using a CO2 laser and we demonstrate that the method can be adapted to be used in tandem with another laser beam. This method to control the temperature is believed to be useful in de-contamination of bone during the implantation treatment, in bone augmentation when using natural or synthetic materials and in low-level laser therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, K7K 7B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lévesque
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, K7K 7B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Noël
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, K7K 7B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Calum
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scott
keywords: (120.0120) Instrumentation, measurement, and metrology; (140.0140) Lasers and laser optics; (140.6810) Thermal effects