Surgical removal of vitreous membranes has been able to reduce the incidence of blindness resulting from vitreoretinal disease. Current surgical vitrectomy utilizes mechanical cutting devices. However, mechanical removal of the vitreous may be complicated by insufficient tissue cutting and/or inadvertent traction the retina resulting in retinal tears, detachment and hemorrhage. The laser offers the possibility of tractionless segmentation and delamination of membranes which are hard to cut mechanically. The use of mid infrared laser sources (Erbium-YAG and Holmium-YAG) has been proposed, as these wavelengths are readily absorbed by the vitreous. The optimum wavelength, pulse duration and fluence for vitreous membrane cutting will be determined by applying these lasers to experimental vitreous membranes in rabbits.
| Lin, C P; Stern, D; Puliafito, C A (1990) High-speed photography of Er: YAG laser ablation in fluid. Implication for laser vitreous surgery. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 31:2546-50 |
