The origin of loud claps during endovenous laser treatments

Optoacoustic and ultrasound methods have shown that the loud "claps" perceived by patients and medical staff during endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) are caused by volumetric blood boiling when large vapor-gas bubbles appear and collapse under the action of laser radiation, which is well absorbed in water. Acoustic effects when using lasers in the near infrared range (1.94, 1.47, and 0.97 μm) were studied in an experiment with non-deaerated water, as well as in EVLA. The nature of these acoustic signals was investigated using high-speed video recording. It turned out that the amplitude of the emerging acoustic pulses in the case of surface boiling, which prevails when using lasers with a wavelength of 0.97 μm, is two orders of magnitude smaller than in the case of volumetric boiling (1.94 and 1.47 μm). The reasons for the decrease in sound effects in this case are associated with numerous microbubbles at the tip of the laser fiber. The results obtained may be useful for further understanding of the mechanisms of EVLA.

Laser-Induced Microstructuring of Polymers in Gaseous, Liquid and Supercritical Media

New results are presented for laser formation—in particular, the “drawing” of microstructures in polymer films using continuous-wave (CW) laser radiation λ = 405 nm with an intensity of 0.8–3.7 kW/cm². The laser drawing was carried out in the polymer system poly-2,2′-p-oxydiphenylene-5,5′-bis-benzimidazole (OPBI), which consists of two phases: a solid polymer matrix with formic acid (HCOOH) dissolved in it. The formation of microstructures, including the stage of foaming, was carried out in three media: air, water and a supercritical carbon dioxide medium containing dissolved molecules of the silver precursor Ag(hfac)COD. The morphological features of foam-like track structures formed in the near-surface layer of the polymer films by laser “drawing” are considered. A model of processes is presented that explains the appearance of periodic structures. The key point of this model is that it considers the participation of the photoinduced mechanism of explosive boiling of formic acid molecules dissolved in the polymer matrix. Using Raman spectroscopy, spectra were obtained and interpreted, which relate to different stages in the formation of microstructures in OPBI films. The effects associated with the peculiarities of luminescent microstructures on the surfaces of glasses in close contact with polymer films during laser “painting” in the air have been studied.

Time-resolved optical probing of the non-equilibrium supercritical state in molecular media under ns laser-plasma impact

We proposed a complex method based on a combination of shadow photography and time-resolved Raman spectroscopy to observe the non-stationary laser-induced supercritical state in molecular media. Shadow photography is applied for retrieving pressure values, while Raman spectroscopy with molecular dynamics for temperature estimation. Time resolution of 0.25 ns is achieved by varying the delay between the pump (creating an extreme energy delivery) and the probe laser pulses by the self-made digital delay electronic circuit . The proposed method was employed in liquid carbon dioxide and water. Under nanosecond laser pulse impact, the estimated temperatures and pressures (∼700 K and ∼0.5 GPa) achieved in media are higher than the critical parameters of the samples.