Recent developments and advances of femtosecond laser ablation: Towards image-guided microsurgery probes

In this contribution we review recent developments and advances in femtosecond laser ablation, with a focus on biomedical applications. In recent years, research has focused on further expanding the use of ultrafast laser ablation beyond ophthalmology, addressing needs in other fields such as dental and orthopaedic surgery. Furthermore, new advances in the development of endoscopic probes for ultrafast laser surgery and the integration of spectroscopic analytical imaging techniques for image-guided devices pave the way for other clinical applications, such as otolaryngological surgery of vocal fold scarring, inner ear surgery, and cancer detection and simultaneous tumour removal.