Hand held dissection laser?

[docfirestein]

I'm playing around with the idea of using a handheld laser to do some delicate dissection/surgery. I'd like to remove the meninges (a very thin sheathe around the central nervous system) of an embryonic mouse without damaging the spinal cord. The thickness and consistency of the meninges is somewhat equivalent to the thin skin found just under the shell of a hard boiled egg.

What frequency and power would be best for such an endeavor? Does anyone have any suggestions to particular models? A cheap model to test the procedure out would be best, before moving up to a more costly laboratory grade quality. Links to suggested models would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any helpful info! :thanks:

 

[Sigurthr]

A visible laser will obscure your vision due to inherent brightness (even with proper goggles), which is why most medical lasers are IR or UV. Avoid yellows and reds, as oxygenated hemogoblin based blood reflects most of the energy and reduces cutting efficiency. You could try a very well focused multiwatt >808nm laser. If the clarity of vision isn't a major issue and you're on a tight budget you could try a standard 1W+ 450nm blue, as the wl is absorbed by flesh well.

Any equipment made for the purpose will be thousands of dollars, DIY can approach the same level of effectiveness on a fraction of the cost.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

YAG or CO2 laser would be the way to go for surgical applications.

They are far from handheld though.

 

[Sigurthr]

Yeah, perhaps a fibre coupled CO2 laser might be workable though.

 

[docfirestein]

Wow, I just checked out both YAG and CO2 lasers. I think they both might be out of my budget for such a project. Although, we have a decent optics dept. at my school; they may already have one (some). I'll check in the morning.

I'll also check on them for a standard 1W+ 450nm blue. I'd rather not buy one only to realize the concept is a dud.

The idea of a handheld really appeals to me. I feel like a Jedi mad scientist doing procedures with a tiny little light saber.

Thank you very much for the advice.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

You may want to just start out by ordering yourself a ~200mW red laser, they are pretty cheap, and would give you good idea of what you're dealing with in terms of handheld burning.

You will need goggles...

Good luck mad jedi.

 

[steve001]

Wow, I just checked out both YAG and CO2 lasers. I think they both might be out of my budget for such a project. Although, we have a decent optics dept. at my school; they may already have one (some). I'll check in the morning.

I'll also check on them for a standard 1W+ 450nm blue. I'd rather not buy one only to realize the concept is a dud.

The idea of a handheld really appeals to me. I feel like a Jedi mad scientist doing procedures with a tiny little light saber.

Thank you very much for the advice.

You'll need somelike this set up

Taiwan NOVA-I 20W Handheld Portable CO2 Medical Laser Scalpel,NOVA-II 30W Floor-type Luxury CO2 Medical Laser, ScalpelURANUS COMFORTOUCH Nd-YAG Frequency Doubled Laser System Catalog

or this
MedPen