Plasma persistence, accumulated absorption, and scattering: what physics lets us control the heat left behind in ultrafast-pulse burst-mode laser surgery

R. S. Marjoribanks; J. Tang; T. Dzelzainis; M. Prickaerts; L. Lilge; M. Akens; C. Veevers; N. Gharabaghi; A. King; A. Hitzler; L. Coulter; Z. Qian; H. Kalaycioglu; S. Yavas; S. Görkem Karamuk; F. O. Ilday

doi:10.1117/12.3011290

12 March 2024 Plasma persistence, accumulated absorption, and scattering: what physics lets us control the heat left behind in ultrafast-pulse burst-mode laser surgery

R. S. Marjoribanks, J. Tang, T. Dzelzainis, M. Prickaerts, L. Lilge, M. Akens, C. Veevers, N. Gharabaghi, A. King, A. Hitzler, L. Coulter, Z. Qian, H. Kalaycioglu, S. Yavas, S. Görkem Karamuk, F. O. Ilday

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12875, Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics: Biomedical, Scientific, and Industrial Applications XXIV; 1287504 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3011290
Event: SPIE LASE, 2024, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Burst-mode ultrafast laser treatments in biological tissues or in materials-processing use high-repetition-rate (⪆MHz) delivery of femtosecond laser pulses. This takes advantage of characteristically tiny residual heat left in a substrate through individual femtosecond-laser-matter interaction. At the same time, the approach opens the door to manipulating the accumulation of that same tiny heat during rapid pulse-repetition. This mode of fluence-delivery may, for instance, be able to denature the protein in the walls of a laser-cut wound and possibly improve infection rates in ultrashort-pulse laser surgery in certain contexts. Isolated intense sub-picosecond laser pulses typically do not rely on intrinsic chromophores for absorption, instead they first create a limited plasma via nonlinear ionization, then increase that plasma through collisional ionization. Used in burst-mode, plasma-mediated ablation can exploit some residual ionization which persists for a few nanoseconds, meaning that subsequent pulses need not re-initiate dielectric breakdown. In effect, the plasma is ‘simmered’ continuously throughout a burst, controlling the mode and amount of absorption and opening the door to particularly gentle laser cutting of tissues and dielectric materials. We describe pulse-by-pulse studies of the persistence of the plasma state within a burst of approximately 60 pulses, each of 300 fs duration, arriving with an intra-burst repetition rate of 200 MHz (5 ns separation). We also present the impact of these burst-mode treatments on cellular necrosis in a phantom of rat-glioma cells suspended in hydrogels and in porcine cartilage samples.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

R. S. Marjoribanks, J. Tang, T. Dzelzainis, M. Prickaerts, L. Lilge, M. Akens, C. Veevers, N. Gharabaghi, A. King, A. Hitzler, L. Coulter, Z. Qian, H. Kalaycioglu, S. Yavas, S. Görkem Karamuk, and F. O. Ilday "Plasma persistence, accumulated absorption, and scattering: what physics lets us control the heat left behind in ultrafast-pulse burst-mode laser surgery", Proc. SPIE 12875, Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics: Biomedical, Scientific, and Industrial Applications XXIV, 1287504 (12 March 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3011290

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