Abstract

Laser photodisruption has become a routine noninvasive procedure for intraocular laser surgery. In most clinical applications of laser photodisruption, optical breakdown is achieved using Q-switched Nd:YAG laser pulses with energies in the millijoule regime. These relatively high energies, necessary to achieve optical breakdown, produce explosive disruptions with remote tissue effects which are often not tolerable in clinical procedures.

© 1990 Optical Society of America