Mid-IR Germanium Oxide Fibers for Contact Erbium Laser Tissue Ablation in Endoscopic Surgery

Author

Scott, Nicholas J. ; Barton, Robert A. ; Casperson, Andrew L. ; Tchapyjnikov, Alexei ; Levin, Ken ; Tran, Danh ; Fried, Nathaniel M.

Author_Institution

Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte

Volume

13

Issue

6

fYear

2007

Firstpage

1709

Lastpage

1714

Abstract

Endoscopic surgical applications of erbium lasers have been limited due to the lack of a suitable mid-IR optical fiber delivery system. Germanium oxide fibers are used for noncontact tissue ablation, but are not recommended for contact tissue ablation applications typically required during endoscopic surgery. This study describes the assembly and characterization of hybrid mid-IR fibers consisting of germanium oxide trunk fibers and sapphire fiber tips, and side-firing germanium oxide fibers with either 45deg angled tips or micromirrors. Average powers up to 8.5 W (850 mJ at 10 Hz) and transmission up to 70% was demonstrated through 450-mum-core, 1.5-m-long fibers, sufficient for endoscopic laser ablation of soft and hard tissues in contact mode.

Keywords

endoscopes; germanium compounds; laser ablation; laser applications in medicine; optical fibres; surgery; JkJk:Er; contact erbium laser tissue ablation; endoscopic surgery; erbium lasers; micromirrors; mid-IR optical fiber delivery system; noncontact tissue ablation; power 8.5 W; sapphire fiber tips; side-firing germanium oxide fibers; Assembly; Erbium; Erbium-doped fiber lasers; Germanium; Laser ablation; Laser applications; Laser modes; Laser surgery; Micromirrors; Optical fibers; Ablation; erbium; laser ablation; laser biomedical applications; optical fiber testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSTQE.2007.910557

Filename

4404845