Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 153, 459-462 (2008)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2008-00484-6

CO₂ laser-photoacoustic analysis of smoke emitted during minimal invasive electro-knife surgery

¹ ETH Zurich, Institute of Quantum Electronics, Laser Spectroscopy and Sensing, Schafmattstrasse 16, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
² University Hospital Zurich, Department of Surgery, Division of Visceral and Transplant Surgery, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract

Smoke samples produced by colorectral laparoscopic operations have been studied with a ¹³CO₂ laser-based photoacoustic spectrometer. The most difficult problem was the existence of almost 100% CO₂ present in the sample. The PA measurements were complemented with broad range FTIR spectra. An important result is the striking difference between sample spectra taken from different operations and patients. Apart from dominating CO₂, a first spectral analysis revealed the existence of ~100 ppm water vapor and of unknown compounds that could not yet be identified but that are not identical with compounds found in related studies.