Knochenchirurgie mit dem Er:YAG-laser

Abstract

In this paper a new method for laser bone surgery is introduced that avoids residual thermal damage of tissue. Hard tissue ablation is performed with a pulsed Er:YAG laser at 2.94 pm. A continuous water-air-spray is used for cooling. It re-wets the tissue by the absorbing water which has been lost during laser treatment, too. High ablation efficiencies (=0.1 mm³/J), the various processing techniques and their excellent precision may indicate a wide use of the Er:YAG-laser in bone surgery. No thermal damage is seen by light and electron microscopy.