Choice of lasers for laser angioplasty.

Thrombi in test-tube, intraarterial thrombi and pig aorta wall were in vitro irradiated with continuous CO2 laser, short pulsal and ultrashort pulsal YAG laser (with pulse-width of 10 ns and 40 ps, respectively) and their double frequency laser and excimer laser with a wave-length of 308 nm and pulse-width of 20 ns. Their effect of vaporizing and ablating (photodecomposing) thrombi and their thermal injuring effect on adjacent tissues were compared and assessed in order to select optimal laser with little thermal injuring and more rapid vaporizing or ablating thrombi effect for laser angioplasty. The experimental results showed that excimer laser, ultrashort pulsal YAG laser and its double frequency laser, and double frequency laser of short pulsal YAG laser, with laser beam and blood vessel kept in a coaxial position, can effectively vaporize or ablate thrombi without thermal injury to vessel wall. So they may be used for laser angioplasty. Of them, especially, excimer laser and double frequency laser of ultrashort pulsal YAG laser have short wave-length and high peak power, and more effectively ablate thrombi than others, so they proved to be optimal lasers for laser angioplasty.