Modeling thermotherapy in vocal cords novel laser endoscopic treatment.

Vocal cords pathologies can be classified in difficulty of movement, lesion formation, and difficulty or lack of mucosal wave movement. There are therapies for the first two cases, but the last one presents nowadays no efficient solution. In this paper, a novel laser endoscopic thermotherapy treatment is proposed to improve vocal cords vibration in sulcus vocalis or slight scars by increasing temperature around 8 degrees C. To predict the availability of this treatment, a complete model of laser-tissue interaction is shown. Optical propagation radiation transport theory model is solved with a Monte Carlo approach, spatial-temporal thermal distributions are obtained via a bioheat equation, and thermal damage uses an Arrhenius integral. Two widely used lasers, Nd:YAG (1,064 nm) and KTP (532 nm), with different source powers, exposition times, and distances to vocal cords are considered to investigate the availability of an efficient and safe laser treatment.