@inproceedings{lecarpentier88,
  author = {G. L. Le{C}arpentier and S. Rastegar and A. J. Welch and S. A. Prahl and H. Hussein},
  title = {Comparative Analysis of Laser Ablation of Plaque Using Direct Laser Irradiation and a Metal Contact Probe},
  booktitle = {Phys. Med. Biol.},
  institution = {World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering},
  editor = {J. W. Clark and P. I. Horner and A. R. Smith and K. Strum},
  address = {San Antonio, TX},
  pages = {17},
  volume = {33},
  year = {1988 abstract only},
  abstract = {The purpose of this research was to establish the theoretical temperature distribution and ablation characteristics in atherosclerotic plaque resulting from both direct argon laser irradiation and the application of a metal contact probe. The plaque was assumed to be a single-layered homogeneous medium, and the laser light distribution within the tissue was calculated using a delta-Eddington approximation. One dimensional temperature distributions and ablation depths were calculated using an immobolized finite element method. Thermal and optical properties of the tissue were assumed to remain constant. Ablation front positions and temperature profiles at times prior to ablation, at the onset of ablation, and during the ablation process were calculated for both modalities. Additionally, ablation velocities were calculated as a function of both tissue water content and heat flux transmitted through the metal probe tip. For the typical operating conditions used, calculated values agreed qualitatively with experimental results. Temperature calculations after the onset of ablation indicated high sub-surface temperature rises beyond the surface threshold temperature for the direct irradiation case but monotonically decreasing profiles for the metal probe. However, deeper within the tissue, calculated temperatures appeared to be higher for the probe than for direct irradiation.},
}