Femtosecond (fs) laser sources are a rapidly developing technology which allows today to reach 100s of W of average power with the possibility to use fibre transport up to few 10s of W. In light of this, several applications that once could not be addressed, are now being developed thanks to the achievable high process throughputs and the possibility to easily transport the laser beam by optical fibre and robotic approaches. In this frame, fs laser-based osteotomy through robotic approaches has been identified as the next innovation in bone removal surgeries where it is necessary to reach high-precision ablation while keeping the surrounding tissue the healthiest to favour its regeneration.


In this work, a comprehensive parametric study is presented in order to optimize the bone tissue ablation rate, that is achieving competitive tissue removal time while maintaining the tissue undamaged. Different absorption regimes are investigated by employing fs laser sources at 3000 nm, 1030 nm, 515 nm and 343 nm in order to tailor light absorption from the different tissue’s components, such as water, hydroxyapatite and its organic matrix (hemoglobin, proteins…). The main differences in the different absorption regimes are discussed by comparing the evolution of the ablation rate and the calcination degree of the laser ablated tissue. The role of a cooling environment during laser ablation of the tissue is also discussed. Results are being exploited currently to build the first Proof of Concept of a fs-laser robotic system for craniomaxillofacial surgeries.