Ablation of polymers and tissue by ultraviolet lasers

The interactions of laser radiation with animal tissue have become a vast field of study. The detailed chemical behavior of the photons with the tissue, while scientifically a fascinating topic for investigation, is difficult to study experimentally. We have used synthetic polymers and small molecules in the condensed phase as models for the study of non-linear photochemistry of all organic systems. While such extrapolations should always be used with caution, they have been helpful in suggesting new strategies for tissue ablation which may be adaptable to experiments in vivo. © 1989 SPIE.