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Ultrashort pulse laser ossicular ablation and stapedotomy in cadaveric bone
William B Armstrong1, Joseph A Neev, Luiz B Da Silva
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA 92868, USA.
Background And Objective:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ablation of ossicular tissue using a 1,053 nm Ti:Sapphire chirped pulse amplifier laser system configured to deliver ultrashort pulses of 350 femtoseconds (fs) (3.5x10(-13) seconds) in cadaver temporal bone.
Study Design/Materials And Methods:
Ablation of the formalin-fixed incus and stapes was performed using an ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) (0.4 mm beam diameter, pulse fluence of 2.0 J/cm2, and pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz). The ablation rate was measured using optical micrometry, and crater surface morphology examined using scanning electron microscopy.
Results:
The laser produced precise bone ablation at a rate of 1.26 microm/pulse, with almost no evidence of thermal damage, and very little evidence of photomechanical injury.
Conclusions:
Ultrashort pulse lasers may provide a useful clinical tool for otologic and skull base surgery, where precise hard tissue ablation is required adjacent to critical structures.