The successful laser ablation of clinically relevant tissue models by means of picosecond laser pulses is presented. This is a potential alternative to overcoming limitations of conventional tumour-surgery tools in terms of precision and thermal damage. The correlation of high-speed imaging of the ablation process, schlieren imaging of the resulting plume dynamics and a histopathological analysis of the post-process tissue morphology enables optimisation of the tissue removal rate whilst avoiding adverse cavitation effects. This facilitates minimal collateral thermal damage. Effective tissue removal is presented for the epithelial laser ablation of colonic tissue; with translation of this process towards infiltrating brain and head and neck cancer surgery further discussed.
We are investigating ways to exploit the significant advantages picosecond pulsed lasers can provide for high precision, minimally invasive surgery over conventional surgical tools. Combining a range of characterisation techniques in clinically relevant tissue models, such as high-speed imaging, surface profilometry and histopathological analysis of the laser ablated regions, allows us to control undesirable effects, such as cavitation bubbles, and optimise the ultimate precision achievable. Furthermore, by developing novel, hollow-core optical fibres we have overcome limits imposed by optical damage and non-linear effects delivering peak powers not possible with conventional optical fibres and significantly outperforming state-of-art technologies for laser delivery in surgery. The fundamentals of the laser tissue interactions will be discussed and also our current work on developing the novel optical technologies necessary to move towards devices that could be used in the clinic.
The successful laser ablation of clinically relevant tissue models by means of picosecond laser pulses is presented. This is a potential alternative to overcoming limitations of conventional tumour-surgery tools in terms of precision and thermal damage. The correlation of high-speed imaging of the ablation process, schlieren imaging of the resulting plume dynamics and a histopathological analysis of the post-process tissue morphology enables optimisation of the tissue removal rate whilst avoiding adverse cavitation effects. This facilitates minimal collateral thermal damage. Effective tissue removal is presented for the epithelial laser ablation of colonic tissue; with translation of this process towards infiltrating brain and head and neck cancer surgery further discussed.
Picosecond pulsed lasers can provide significant advantages for high precision, minimally invasive surgery compared to conventional electrocautery tools or utilising continuous wave or long pulsed lasers which can induce high degrees of thermal damage. By combining a range of characterisation techniques such as high-speed imaging, surface profilometry and histopathological analysis of the laser ablated regions we have gained deeper understanding into the dynamics of the plasma-mediated ablation. For example, correlation of time-resolved images with histopathology reveals subtleties about the process such as cavitation effects which must be mitigated in order minimise collateral thermal damage. Additionally, by investigating these phenomena on clinically relevant tissue models we can move towards the realisation of new surgical procedures for more complete removal of disease (such as cancer) from delicate and vital structures within the human body. Such procedures require this high precision to minimise necrotic tissue margins, avoiding severe complications and preserving function. In addition to the fundamentals of laser tissue interactions, novel optical technologies such as beam shaping, micro-optics, imaging and novel fibre optic delivery have also been investigated in order to enable practical and deployable devices.
The successful laser ablation of clinically relevant tissue models by means of picosecond laser pulses is presented. This is a potential alternative to overcome limitations of conventional electrocautery tools in terms of precision and thermal damage. The correlation of high-speed imaging of the process and a histopathological analysis of the post-process tissue morphology enables optimisation of the tissue removal rate whilst avoiding adverse cavitation effects in order to keep the collateral thermal damage to a minimum. Effective tissue removal is presented for the epithelial laser ablation of colonic tissue and the translation of this process towards head and neck surgery and brain surgery is discussed.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.