Experimental Evaluation of Different Optical Fibers for Micro-Invasive Soft-Tissue Ablation with a 1064 nm Diode Laser System.

This study presents an experimental evaluation of different optical fibers for soft-tissue laser ablation using an Echolaser system, developed by Elesta S.p.A., for minimally invasive therapies. Eight fibers with varying core diameters, numerical apertures, and tip geometries (flat, conical radial, and spherical) were compared to investigate the influence of optical properties on the ablation dimensions and thermal profiles. The experiments were conducted at 1064 nm with powers of 3, 5, and 7 W and delivered energies ranging from 1200 to 3600 J. The results highlight how the fiber characteristics affect tissue ablation, identifying the configurations suitable for minimally invasive prostate applications. These findings provide an experimental reference for the development of laser-based biomedical approaches.