Evaluation of potential health hazards caused by laser and rf surgery

Hansjoerg Albrecht; Wolfgang Waesche

doi:10.1117/12.229562

10 January 1996 Evaluation of potential health hazards caused by laser and rf surgery

Hansjoerg Albrecht, Wolfgang Waesche

Proceedings Volume 2624, Laser-Tissue Interaction and Tissue Optics; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.229562
Event: BiOS Europe '95, 1995, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

The aim is the assessment of potential health hazards of patients and medical staff which may be caused by inhalation of the vapors and aerosols produced. In vitro investigations have been carried out to study the process of laser- and rf-surgery induced vaporization of various tissue types to identify the large variety of pyrolytic substances, to calibrate the analytical equipment and to determine typical amounts of selected substances during the treatment. The organic compounds include acetate esters, aldehydes, nitriles, aromatics and ketones and have been analyzed by spectroscopic and gas chromatography techniques. Distribution studies of VOCs and aerosols in operating rooms revealed that concentrations of VOCs such as toluene, pyrrole, aldehyde are measured which are well below of any threshold limit values by some orders of magnitude. But in case of aerosols 5 minutes of tissue vaporization leads to concentrations for 30 min. which are similar to limit values for inert dust. But plume aerosols consists of complex mixtures of condensed pyrolysis products which will be investigated further by biomonitoring tests.

Citation Download Citation

Hansjoerg Albrecht and Wolfgang Waesche "Evaluation of potential health hazards caused by laser and rf surgery", Proc. SPIE 2624, Laser-Tissue Interaction and Tissue Optics, (10 January 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.229562

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