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Development of a thulium (Tm:YAP) laser system for brain tissue ablation

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Abstract

In this study, a thulium (Tm:YAP) laser system was developed for brain surgery applications. As the Tm:YAP laser is a continuous-wave laser delivered via silica fibers, it would have great potential for stereotaxic neurosurgery with highest local absorption in the IR region. The laser system developed in this study allowed the user to set the power level, exposure time, and modulation parameters (pulse width and on-off cycles). The Tm:YAP laser beam (200–600 mW, 69–208 W/cm2) was delivered from a distance of 2 mm to cortical and subcortical regions of ex-vivo Wistar rat brain tissue samples via a 200-μm-core optical fiber. The system performance, dosimetry study, and ablation characteristics of the Tm:YAP laser were tested at different power levels by maximizing the therapeutic effects and minimizing unwanted thermal side-effects. The coagulation and ablation diameters were measured under microscope. The maximum ablation efficiency (100 × ablation diameter/coagulation diameter) was obtained when the Tm:YAP laser system was operated at 200 mW for 10 s. At this laser dose, the ablation efficiency was found to be 71.4% and 58.7% for cortical and subcortical regions, respectively. The fiber-coupled Tm:YAP laser system in hence proposed for the delivery of photothermal therapies in medical applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey under TUBITAK-107E119 grant to Murat Gulsoy, Ph.D and under Bogazici University Scientific Research Fund BAP1952. The authors thank Resit Canbeyli, Ph. D., for providing the environment to perform in vivo experiments in the Psychobiology Laboratory, Bogazici University. A. Sennaroglu further acknowledges the research support provided by the Turkish Academy of Sciences. T. Bilici would like to thank Ozgur Tabakoglu, Nermin Topaloglu, Ayse Sena Sarp, and Eray Sevingil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biophotonics Laboratory, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Kampus, Cengelkoy, 34684, Istanbul, Turkey

    Temel Bilici & Murat Gulsoy

  2. Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, 2781-901, Portugal

    Sevinc Mutlu

  3. Institute of Material Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Cankaya, 06800, Ankara, Turkey

    Hamit Kalaycioglu

  4. Teknofil Ltd. Sti., Zekeriyaköy, Sarıyer, 34450, Istanbul, Turkey

    Adnan Kurt

  5. Laser Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Koç University, Sarıyer, 34450, Istanbul, Turkey

    Alphan Sennaroglu

  6. Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Kampus, Cengelkoy, 34684, Istanbul, Turkey

    Murat Gulsoy

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  1. Temel Bilici
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  2. Sevinc Mutlu
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  3. Hamit Kalaycioglu
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  4. Adnan Kurt
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  5. Alphan Sennaroglu
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  6. Murat Gulsoy
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Correspondence to Murat Gulsoy.

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Bilici, T., Mutlu, S., Kalaycioglu, H. et al. Development of a thulium (Tm:YAP) laser system for brain tissue ablation. Lasers Med Sci 26, 699–706 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-011-0915-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-011-0915-0

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