Ablation of brain by erbium laser: study of dynamic behavior and tissue damage

In this work two aspects of the ablation of brain by Erbium laser have been mainly addressed: the time evolution of the phenomenon and the damages, both thermal and mechanical, produced in the tissues. The time resolved images acquired during the laser interaction revealed that deep lacerations develop in the tissue due to a mechanical stress. The damages have been evaluated by studying the changes in the autofluorescence emission properties and the reduction in enzymatic activities (NADH Oxidase and ATPase). The results obtained in this study indicate that the thermal alterations resulting from the exposure to Erbium laser are limited, whereas the mechanical damages can be very pronounced.