<title>Novel CO2 laser system for hard tissue ablation</title>

Comparison of cortical bone ablations by using infrared laser wavelengths 2.9 to 9.2 ?m

“…Numerous studies of hard tissue (enamel, dentin, and/or bone) ablation by using near to mid-IR wavelengths have been reported [46][47][48][49][50]. These studies have demonstrated that hard tissue can be ablated by using near to mid-IR wavelengths with adjacent thermal damage limited to 10-20 m when pulse durations between 0.1 and 200 s are used.…”

“…Although the constituents of this flash and the mechanism of its production have been debated, its presence does appear to attenuate the influence of successive laser pulses directed at the same spot [6,15,19,[46][47][48]. To minimize the chances of pulse attenuation, a pulse intensity was selected below the threshold for induction of an observable flash, and the computer controlled delivery system was used to direct each successive macropulse to a different segment of the ablation line.…”

“…These studies have demonstrated that hard tissue can be ablated by using near to mid-IR wavelengths with adjacent thermal damage limited to 10-20 m when pulse durations between 0.1 and 200 s are used. The influence of pulse durations in the ns, s, and ms domains on the ablation of hard tissue have been investigated for several wavelengths in the near to mid-IR region, with the observation that ablation efficiency is best achieved with pulse durations between 0.1 and 200 s [5,6,[46][47][48]. Wavelength dependence of hard tissue ablations has been studied by comparison of ablations within limited regions of the IR spectrum, including 2.1-2.94 m [16,25], 6.0-7.5 m [49], and 9.6-10.6 m [5,6,46,47].…”

Ablation of dental hard tissues with a microsecond pulsed carbon dioxide laser operating at 9.3-μm with an integrated scanner

“…[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Recent studies using pulsed TEA and RF-excited CO 2 laser pulses of submillisecond duration indicate that dental hard tissues can be ablated efficiently without generating peripheral damage. [23][24][25][26][27] Ivanenko et al 28 demonstrated that a mechanically Qswitched 10.6 μm CO 2 industrial laser could be used to cut bone rapidly at 300 Hz without thermal damage. The peak absorption of dental hard tissues occurs at 9.3 and 9.6-μm where the incident laser light will be absorbed at a depth of under 1-2 μm (see Fig.…”

“…29,30 Previous efforts focused on the 9.3 and 9.6-μm TEA lasers that employ a simple high voltage discharge to excite the gas mixture. [23][24][25][26][27]29,30 In contrast, Radio Frequency (RF) excited slab lasers use a radiofrequency source to excite the CO 2 gas and can be operated efficiently with a completely sealed gas mixture. The principal advantages of the RF-slab laser over the TEA laser are small size and sealed gas mixture.Systems with output in the range of 10-30 W are now available at relatively low-cost that do not require water-cooling.…”