Analysis of photo-ablation products of excimer and erbium:YAG laser treated human corneas. Combined gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy
Kahle, G.; Städter, H.; Seiler, T.; Wollensak, J.
Der Ophthalmologe Zeitschrift der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft 89(6): 505-509
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0941-293X PMID: 1486268 Document Number: 393415
The photoablation products from human cadaver corneas treated with an excimer laser (192 nm) or an erbium: YAG laser (2.94 microns) were qualitatively analyzed using a combined gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) system. GC/MS is the most sensitive analyzing system in use today for molecules with a relative molecular mass of 40 to 400. More than 20 different types of molecules were detected; most of them were identified as alkanes. Comparison of the two types of laser showed larger fragments and fewer different types of molecules after excimer laser treatment than after erbium: YAG photoablation. We postulate that the smaller molecules after erbium: YAG treatment indicate a greater heat during photoablation than with excimer laser treatment.