A Practical Noncontact Model to Create Standardized Experimental Burn Wounds of Any Thickness: Blue Beam Laser Pointer for Burn Induction

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe a predictable and easy-to-use model that can create standardized burn wounds. A 450-nm 1000-mW blue beam laser pointer was used to create burn wounds on the dorsal skin of 24 Sprague Dawley rats. Twelve distinct areas of dorsal skin were pulsed for 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23 seconds with the help of a punched plastic card template. Three groups of 8 animals were killed immediately after on the third day and on the seventh day of the procedure and tissue samples were taken for histological evaluation and measurements. A second-degree burn was obtained in all animals with 3 and 5 seconds of laser application on the same day, third day, and seventh day measurements. Seven seconds of application resulted in a burn depth of 84.87% of dermis on the application day which deepened to involve the whole dermal layer on the third and seventh day. Nine seconds and longer application times resulted in third-degree burn wounds. Burn induction with blue beam laser pointer is an easy-to-use, predictable and safe model to create a standardized burn wound of desired thickness.