Brent Emigh, B.Sc.

As a result of its ability to remove significant material volume while maintaining minimal collateral damage, it is predicted that ultra-fast lasers can replace traditional bur drills used for precise bone tissue removal in orthopaedic surgeries. This project involves the investigation of different laser hard tissue ablation protocols and their effect on the efficiency and accuracy of bone removal. A femto-second pulsed Ti:Sapphire and pico-second pulsed Nd:YAG laser, along with porcine vertebrae, will be used to characterize the quality of ablation.