The experiment conducted in our laboratory has shown that short pulsed ablation of biological tissue is a photomechanical process. To complement the experimental observation, we have embarked on a theoretical effort to understand the phenomenon of early ablation. We have solved the full thermoelastic equations of motion in a one-dimensional geometry. Although these solutions have provided insight into the photomechanical mechanism, the one-dimensional geometry is not adequate. Recently, we have solved the steady-state thermoelastic equations of motion in three dimensions. These results have led to important insights into the initiation of ablation including the role of four quasi-steady state stress components (axial, radial, circumferential, and shear) which do not exist in the one-dimensional case. We have developed a numerical solution to thermoelastic equations of motion which is fully time dependent. The theoretically predicted surface motion is a unique measure of optical and mechanical properties of the material.
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