Ablative targeting of fatty-tissue using a high-powered diode laser

Background and Objective: Concerning current clinical practice, laser-assisted lipoplasty is still secondary to other procedures. In order to evaluate effects of thermal interaction with fatty-tissue, a near infrared diode laser was examined under reproducible conditions. Methods: Based on optical spectroscopy of fatty-tissue, a high-powered diode laser (lambda = 940 nm) was used to irradiate n = 59 fat samples of fresh corpses in non-contact mode. Thermal effects were histologically evaluated by computer based metric measurements. Calculated values included ablation rate (AR) and the ratio of cavity diameter to diameter of collateral damage (CCDratio). Pearson's correlation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used for statistical evaluation. P values of less than 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: Regarding the conditions examined, irradiances from 250 to 400 W/cm(2) revealed both increased ablation capacities and decreased collateral damages. An average irradiance of 370 +/- 0 W/cm(2) shows an average CCDratio of 2:1 and an average AR of 9.98 +/- 7.65 mm(3)/second. Conclusion: Near infrared high-powered diode laser energy proved to be eligible for tissue protective ablation of fat in vitro. Further studies are necessary to improve efficiency and safety of this procedure.