In silico design of blue laser soft tissue vaporization with optimized optical power efficiency and mitigated thermal side effects

Abstract Blue diode laser irradiation has significant potential for realization of high vaporization efficiency with minimal thermal damage because of the strong blue light absorption of hemoglobin and the resulting shallow tissue penetration. This study presents an in silico framework for designing laser parameters, specifically pulse duration and power, for efficient vaporization under low-power irradiation conditions while minimizing thermal tissue damage. Computational simulations of laser-tissue interactions using the Monte Carlo light transport with dynamic optical properties model were conducted to evaluate vaporization and coagulation performance under various irradiation conditions. In addition to vaporization volume, the fraction of coagulated tissue was also calculated as a measure of thermal tissue damage. The in silico designs were validated experimentally through irradiation experiments performed on porcine liver tissue. Computational simulations revealed a non-monotonic relationship between pulse duration and vaporization volume at constant energy, as well as distinct trends for vaporization and coagulation. The experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of the simulation-derived parameters, and supported the practical utility of the proposed in silico design approach. The proposed in silico design approach enables quantitative analysis of vaporization and coagulation responses and can guide the development of safe and effective laser treatment protocols.