Effects of exposure time and pulse parameters on CO2 laser osteotomies

Two sets of experimental linear osteotomies were performed on frozen cortical bone by means of a high-power industrial CO2 laser in the rapid superpulsed mode, varying the velocity of the operating table, the mean power of the laser beam, the pulsewidth, the pulse repetition rate, and the peak power. Both the depth and the width of the osteotomies were inversely related to the velocity and directly related to the mean power and to the pulsewidth, but they were not affected by changes in the repetition rate. The depth/width ratio, which describes the profile of the osteotomies, was affected by the mean power only. These data permit greater accuracy in the planning of laser osteotomies in cortical bone when using the rapid super-pulsed mode.