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Science 11 March 1983:
Vol. 219. no. 4589, pp. 1217 - 1219
DOI: 10.1126/science.219.4589.1217
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Articles

Syneresis of Vitreous by Carbon Dioxide Laser Radiation

T. J. BRIDGES 1, C. K. N. PATEL 1, A. R. STRNAD 1, O. R. WOOD II 1, E. S. BREWER 2, and D. B. KARLIN 2

1 Bell Telephone Laboratories, Holmdel, New Jersey 07733
2 Cornell University Medical College, New York 10021

In carbon dioxide laser surgery of the vitreous a process of vaporization has been advocated. In this report syneresis, a thermal liquefaction of gel, is shown to be over ten times more efficient on an energy basis than vaporization. Syneresis of vitreous is experimentally shown to be a first-order kinetic process with an activation energy of 41 ± 0.5 kilocalories per mole. A theory of laser surgery in which this figure is used agrees closely with results from laser experiments on human eye-bank vitreous. The syneresis of vitreous by carbon dioxide laser radiation could lead to a more delicate form of ocular microsurgery, and application to other biological systems may be possible.

Submitted on June 14, 1982
Revised on September 7, 1982


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Vitreous Changes After Neodymium-YAG Laser Photodisruption.
J. M. Krauss, C. A. Puliafito, S. Miglior, R. F. Steinert, and H.-M. Cheng (1986)
Arch Ophthalmol 104, 592-597
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