Flash photography was used to study the effects of absorption coefficient and fiber configurations on the bubble dynamics during pulsed-dye laser ablation of a thrombus model. The thrombus was modeled by unbounded 3.5% gelatin (Sigma, 175 Bloom) targets containing an absorbing dye (direct red, Sigma) submerged in water. Laser pulses (486nm, 2µs) of 100mJ energy were delivered with solid and fluid core fibers. The laser induced bubbles were photographed from 10µs to 1ms after the laser pulse using a 1µs flash strobe. Bubble dimensions were measured as a function of time for different absorption coefficients and fiber configurations.
U. S. Sathyam, A. Shearin, and S. A. Prahl. Bubble dynamics during 2µs pulsed-dye laser ablation under water. Lasers Surg. Med., S6:5-6, 1994 (abstract).