Study of the Applicability of IR Picosecond Laser Pulses for Microdissection of Zona Pellucida of a Mouse Embryo

In this study, dissection of mouse embryo zona pellucida was carried out using picosecond laser pulses in the infrared range (radiation wavelength is 1028 nm, duration is 25 ± 5 ps, pulse repetition rate is 2.5 kHz). Using optical microscopy, the dependence of the cut width D was studied, formed by laser radiation on the zona pellucida of the embryo, on the energy E of laser pulses and velocity υ of beam movement. The obtained values were compared with the results of microsurgery using femtosecond pulses (1028 nm, 280 fs). It has been shown that the use of both femto- and picosecond laser pulses for microsurgery of embryonic zona pellucida allows one to obtain an incision whose width is smaller than the geometric size of the focused laser beams. In this case, dissection with picosecond pulses is possible only at a significantly lower velocity of the laser beam (20 times or more), which increases the time spent on the procedure. The use of picosecond laser pulses did not reveal any advantages over femtosecond ones.