BACKGROUND Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a compact high-speed imaging technology which uses infrared light to acquire cross-sectional images of tissue on the micrometer scale. Because OCT images are based on the optical backscattering properties of tissue, changes in tissue optical properties due to surgical laser ablation should be detectable using this technique. In this work, we exam...

To overcome limitations of minimally invasive surgical ablation as a standalone procedure in eliminating atrial fibrillation (AF), hybrid approaches incorporating adjunctive endovascular catheter ablation have been proposed in recent years. The endovascular component targets residual conduction gaps and identifies additional electrophysiological targets with the goal of minimizing recurrent atr...

We describe an energy-partition diagnostic based on integrating sphere principle for measuring absorption and scattering in plasma-mediated ablation by a high repetition-rate (133 MHz), pulsetrain-burst ultrafast-pulse laser. The system time-resolves the partition of elastically scattered laser light into specular reflection, diffuse reflection, and transmission, giving access to per-pulse abso...

The collapse of laser-induced cavitation bubbles creates acoustic transients within the surrounding medium and also pressure impulses to the ablation target and light-delivery fiber during microsecond laser ablation. The impulses are investigated here with time-resolved flash photography, and they are found to occur whether or not the light-delivery fiber is in contact with the target. We demon...

Mycotic aortic aneurysms account for 1–3% of all aortic aneurysms. The management of this disease is controversial. Since open surgical repair is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, endovascular aneurysm repair is an alternative treatment method with promising early and midterm outcomes, although its long-term durability is unknown.Secondary aortoenteric fistulas may occur iatro...

IMPORTANCE Despite significant advances in surgery, most surgical tools remain basic. Lasers provide a means of precise surgical ablation, but their clinical use has remained limited because of undesired thermal, ionizing, or acoustic stress effects leading to tissue injury. A novel ultrafast, nonionizing, picosecond infrared laser (PIRL) system has recently been developed and is capable, in th...

Zebrafish have distinctive black stripes and yellow interstripes that form owing to the interaction of different pigment cells. We present a two-population agent-based model for the development and regeneration of these stripes and interstripes informed by recent experimental results. Our model describes stripe pattern formation, laser ablation and mutations. We find that fish growth shortens t...