Effects of surface irrigation on the thermal response of tissue during laser irradiation

Effects of surface irrigation on the thermal response of tissue during laser irradiation are investigated. In particular, influence of temperature and flow rate of the irrigation fluid on the resulting temperature distributions and coagulation depths are studied. Intraluminal Nd:YAG laser irradiation of bovine muscle is performed in vitro for a fixed value of the irrigation flow rate while the irrigation temperature is varied, and for a fixed irrigation temperature while the irrigation flow rate is kept constant. Thermocouples are used to measure the temperatures within the tissue for various irradiation and irrigation conditions. Higher temperatures and deeper coagulation depths are achieved as the temperature of the irrigation fluid is increased. For sufficiently low values of irradiance and exposure time, the use of cold irrigation is shown to prevent or delay tissue carbonization. Beyond a critical irradiance and an exposure time, use of cold irrigation does not prevent tissue carbonization. Coagulation depths and temperature distributions are not affected by a change in the flow rate of laminar irrigation. Application of stagnant irrigation, however, results in an increase in coagulation depth. Results of this study suggest that the dominating mechanism of heat transfer during application of laminar irrigation is thermal diffusion as compared to the bulk motion of the fluid. © 1994 wiley‐Liss, Inc.