Er : YAG laser ablation of cerebellar and cerebral tissue

With the availability of suitable fibres, the Er:YAG laser has become an in dispensable tool for invasive neurosurgical applications as a source of pre cise ablation. The aim of this study was to investigate the ablative effect s of the Er:YAG laser on brain tissue. The response of neuronal. tissue to 2.94 mum Er:YAG laser irradiation was investigated on excised rat brain spe cimens. Ablation craters were created in cerebral and cerebellar tissues us ing 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 J single pulses of 150 mus duration. The corresponding average irradiances were 37.7 J/cm(2), 62.9 J/cm(2) and 125.8 J/cm(2), res pectively. Craters were checked qualitatively, crater dimensions were measu red and compared, and volume of ablated tissue was estimated. Laser-induced crater dimensions were found to be significantly different at different en ergy levels applied. Moreover, dimensions of craters on cerebral and cerebe llar tissues were significantly different in terms of dimensions. We observ ed that with the Er:YAG laser ablation craters were created with practicall y no thermal damage to adjacent tissues. The differences observed in the re sponse of cerebral and cerebellar cortical tissues were dependent on the an atomical and chemical differences.