Abstract

Laser induced thermal ablation is a minimally invasive alternative to conventional surgery and can provide faster recovery times as well as reduction in complication rates. In this study, our purpose is to develop a simulation tool for therapy planning to determine important laser parameters that govern the magnitude of temperature rise and its duration in the tissue. This tool is based on the use of a new analytical approach to model laser induced temperature in turbid media. First, the diffusion equation is used for the light propagation and a comprehensive solution is derived analytically by obtaining a special Greens’ function. Next, the heat equation is also solved analytically for a source term given by the product of the solution of the diffusion equation and the local optical absorption. The results obtained with our theoretical model are successfully validated using experimental data.

© 2016 Optical Society of America