Acoustic studies of the role of immersion in plasma-mediated laser ablation

Author

Teng, Peter ; Nishioka, Norman S. ; Anderson, R.Rox ; Deutsch, Thomas F.

Author_Institution

Wellman Research Labs., of Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medicial School, Boston, MA, USA

Volume

23

Issue

10

fYear

1987

fDate

10/1/1987 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1845

Lastpage

1852

Abstract

Several experiments were performed to understand the increased efficiency of microsecond-domain pulsed visible laser fragmentation of urinary and biliary stones produced by immersion in water. An optoacoustic sensor and a piezoelectric transducer were used to measure the effect of water immersion on the stress wave traveling through a stone during laser-induced ablation. The stress wave signal increased by a factor of 10 with immersion and was proportional to the square root of laser fluence. The temporal and spatial behavior of the stress wave and cavity (bubble) generated in the surrounding water were examined using pump-probe and microsecond-flash photographic techniques. The results suggest that improved fragmentation efficiency can be explained by confinement of a plasma by water.

Keywords

Ablation; Biomedical acoustics; Digestive systems; Laser biomedical applications; Plasmas; Urinary system; Acoustic pulses; Acoustic sensors; Laser ablation; Optical pulses; Plasma confinement; Plasma measurements; Plasma waves; Pump lasers; Stress; Underwater acoustics;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.1987.1073233

Filename

1073233