Thermal Collagen Shrinkage Promotes Laser-Induced Vessel Occlusion

Laser-induced vessel closure is one of the most important effects of high power laser radiation when the laser is used as a surgical instrument. Laser light is applied in order to incise tissue and, at the same time, to seal blood vessels, or it is used selectively to obliterate blood vessels, for example during microsurgery. There is no doubt that the powerful light of surgical lasers interacts thermally with the biological tissue since heat is produced through absorption of laser energy; heat alone should then account for the vessel sealing effect.