Experiment and simulation of biotissue surface thermal damage during laser surgery

Abstract

In medical cosmetology, laser energy must be properly controlled to avoid unnecessary thermal damage of normal tissue due to excessive irradiation. When a laser source is applied to a specific target that is very close to the surface tissue, residual heat can damage the surface tissue even after the laser treatment is halted. This study aims to determine the proper conditions for the laser treatment and the prediction of the thermal damage of surface tissue after the laser is applied. An 810 nm diode laser was used to irradiate porcine liver and the surface temperature was measured using infrared thermography for different laser application processes. The Pennes bioheat transfer equation was solved using the ANSYS software package to simulate the surface temperature and thermal damage zone in laser surgery. The double ellipsoid function represented the laser source term in the heat transfer simulation. The results of the simulation were compared with the experimental data. Finally, a transient analysis of the estimations of thermal damage after laser surgery was conducted for different conditions of power, laser irradiation time, and laser depth under the surface of the porcine liver.