Abstract
A method has been found to selectively ablate cholesterol esters accumulated in an arteriosclerotic region of a rabbit artery without damaging the blood vessel using a free-electron laser (FEL). A FEL is a pulsed laser source that generates a beam by amplifying the coherent radiation emitted by an electron beam that is travelling through a periodically alternating magnetic field at a relativistic velocity. The characteristics of the FEL include a broadly tunable wavelength and ukra-short pulse width. We have found that FEL irradiation of a rabbit arterial wall for 1 min with a power of 1.5 mW can ablate cholesterol esters without damaging the elastic fibers of the arterial wall. The FEL was tuned to 5.75 μm, which is a wavelength that is absorbed by cholesterol ester. This method may be used as a non-invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of arteriosclerotic arteries.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 225-231 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 3195 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 1997 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | Proceedings of Lasers-Tissue Interaction, Tissue Optics and Laser Welding III - San Remo, Italy Duration: Sep 5 1997 → Sep 8 1997 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering