Influence of water environment on holmium laser ablation performance for hard tissues

This study clarifies the ablation differences in air and in water for hard biological tissues, which are irradiated by fiber-guided long-pulsed holmium lasers. High-speed photography is used to record the dynamic characteristics of ablation plumes and vaporization bubbles induced by pulsed holmium lasers. The ablation morphologies and depth of hard tissues are quantitatively measured by optical coherence microscopy. Explosive vaporization effects in water play a positive role in the contact ablation process and are directly responsible for significant ablation enhancement. Furthermore, water layer depth can also contribute to ablation performance. Under the same laser parameters for fiber-tissue contact ablation in air and water, ablation performances are comparable for a single-laser pulse, but for more laser pulses the ablation performances in water are better than those in air. Comprehensive knowledge of ablation differences under various environments is important, especially in medical procedures that are performed in a liquid environment.