Ultra-short pulsed laser tissue ablation using focused laser beam

Short pulse lasers are used for a variety of therapeutic applications in medicine. Recently ultra-short pulse lasers have gained prominence due to the reduction in collateral thermal damage to surrounding healthy tissue during tissue ablation. In this paper, ultra-short pulsed laser ablation of mouse skin tissue is analyzed by assessing the extent of damage produced due to focused laser beam irradiation. The laser used for this study is a fiber-based desktop laser (Raydiance, Inc.) having a wavelength of 1552 rim and a pulse width of 1.3 ps. The laser beam is focused on the sample surface to a spot size on the order of 10 microns, thus producing high peak intensity necessary for precise clean ablation. A parametric study is performed on in vitro mouse tissue specimens and live anaesthetized mice with mammary tumors through variation of laser parameters such as time-averaged laser power, repetition rate, laser scanning rate and irradiation time. Radial temperature distribution is measured using thermal camera to analyze the heat affected zone. Temperature measurements are performed to assess the peak temperature rise attained during ablation. A detailed histological study is performed using frozen section technique to observe the nature and extent of laser-induced damages.