Infrared laser bone ablation.

The bone ablation characteristics of five infrared lasers, including three pulsed lasers (Nd:YAG, lambda = 1,064 micron; Hol:YSGG, lambda = 2.10 micron; and Erb:YAG, lambda = 2.94 micron) and two continuous-wave lasers (Nd:YAG, lambda = 1.064 micron; and CO2, lambda = 10.6 micron), were studied. All laser ablations were performed in vitro, using moist, freshly dissected calvarium of guinea pig skulls. Quantitative etch rates of the three pulsed lasers were calculated. Light microscopy of histologic sections of ablated bone revealed a zone of tissue damage of 10 to 15 micron adjacent to the lesion edge in the case of the pulsed Nd:YAG and the Erb:YAG lasers, from 20 to 90 micron zone of tissue damage for bone ablated by the Hol:YSGG laser, and 60 to 135 micron zone of tissue damage in the case of the two continuous-wave lasers. Possible mechanisms of bone ablation and tissue damage are discussed.