Corneal wound healing following infrared laser irradiation at the wavelengths of 1.319 and 10.6 μm

• Published in: Lasers in surgery and medicine 2024-02, Vol.56 (2), p.218-225
• Main Authors: Zhou, Congling, Yin, Yixue, Wang, Jiarui, Ren, Ziqi, Jiao, Luguang, Zhong, Li, Yang, Zaifu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1.319 μm; 10.6 μm; Aluminum; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide lasers; Cornea; corneal wound healing; Edema; Epithelium; Histopathology; I.R. radiation; Infrared lasers; Injuries; injury; Irradiation; Laser damage; Laser radiation; Lasers; Microscopy; Neodymium; Optical Coherence Tomography; Rabbits; Radiation damage; Wavelength; Wavelengths; Wound healing; YAG lasers; Yttrium
• ISSN: 0196-8092; 1096-9101; 1096-9101
• DOI: 10.1002/lsm.23749

Objectives To investigate the wound healing of rabbit cornea following infrared laser irradiations at the wavelengths of 1.319 and 10.6 μm. Materials and Methods Twelve New Zealand rabbits were selected to establish a corneal injury model. The right and left eyes were irradiated with a neodymium‐doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser at the wavelength of 1.319 μm (140 J/cm2) for 0.7 s and a CO2 laser at the wavelength of 10.6 μm (5.94 J/cm2) for 0.14 s, respectively. The incident spot diameter was 3 mm. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to monitor injuries at 0 h, 0.5 h, 1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, 18 h, 24 h, 30 h, 36 h, 42 h, 48 h, 54 h, 60 h, 66 h, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, 28 d, 3 m, and 6 m postexposure. Meanwhile, slit‐lamp microscopy and histopathology were performed at 6 h, 24 h, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, 28 d, 3 m, and 6 m postexposure. Results After the two types of infrared laser injuries, distinct white circular lesions on the corneal surface were directly observed. Deeper corneal injury, more severe edema, and faster migration of new epithelium were found for the wavelength of 1.319 μm, compared to the wavelength of 10.6 μm. Conclusions OCT combined with histopathology and slit‐lamp microscopy can clearly observe the dynamic process of corneal wound healing after infrared laser irradiation. The damage characteristics for the two different wavelengths were visibly different, but the whole wound healing process was similar. The obtained results may provide references for the diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation of laser‐induced damages.