2017 Volume 26 Issue 4 Pages 311-318
Background and Aims: The aim of this ex vivo study was to demonstrate the performances of 1070 nm fiber lasers for the ablation of oral tissues through the evaluation of the histological modifications made by a blind pathologist and the measurement of the thermal elevation during laser irradiation by a sensor based on a fiber Bragg grating.
Materials and Methods: The source used was a pulsed fiber laser emitting at 1070 nm, with 20 W maximum average output power and 100 ns fixed pulse duration. Different tests were performed by changing the laser parameters, particularly the peak power of the pulses and the repetition rate.
Results: The tissue of the measurements demonstrated that the best properties in term of cutting capability and, at the same time, the lower thermal damages to the tissues can be obtained with a peak power of 3 kW, a repetition rate of 50 kHz and a speed of 5 mm/s.
Conclusions: This ex vivo study showed that 1070 nm fiber lasers can be very useful in oral surgery, since they provide a reduced thermal elevation in the irradiated tissues, thus consequently respecting their biological structures. Moreover, this work demonstrates that FBG sensors, based on the optical fiber technology as the laser source considered for the tests, may be good instruments to record thermal elevation when applied to the ex vivo studies on animal models.
