Dynamics of shock waves and cavitation bubbles generated by picosecond laser pulses in corneal tissue and water

Time-resolved flash photography was used to investigate the dynamics of shock waves and cavitation bubbles generated by picosecond optical breakdown in bovine corneal tissue and water. A picosecond Nd:YLF laser was employed. A rapid decay of the shock waves was observed in both materials, with similar temporal characteristics, indicating that water serves as a good model for shock wave studies. In contrast, differences in the cavitation bubble dynamics were found between cornea and water, which are related to differences in the mechanical and thermal properties of the two media, suggesting that water should not be used to model cavitation dynamics in cornea. The experimental results also suggest that the efficiency of intrastromal ablation may be increased by using short pulses and moderate pulse energies in order to avoid the creation of large cavitation bubbles. The experiment indicates that the optimum laser repetition rate for intrastromal ablation is between 1 and 5 kHz.