Collagen transformation in abdominal skin of rabbit under continuous wave CO2 laser irradiation: a transmission electron microscopy study.

Irradiation of abdominal skin of the rabbit with a continuous-wave CO2 laser beam disrupted the collagen fibril into a spiral-like arrangement of thin filaments. An altered collagen fibril resulted with the potential for interactions between the fibrils. On cross section, the altered fibril shows a central core and an irregular limit which seems to interconnect the fibrils. This structure was found in a thin layer in the zone with altered collagen, at the boundary of the tissue apparently unaffected by the irradiation.