Fig. 1.

Laser osteotomy system and method. (a) Schematic of the optical platform. (b) In order to flush debris from the ablation site, the immersion solution (Normal saline, Sigma-Aldrich) was circulated at high flux through a pair of needles (Gauge 26, 1.3 cm length, Fisher Scientific) affixed onto the objective lens (60X, 1.0 NA, LUMPLFLN, Olympus) and connected to a peristaltic pump (Ismatec, Harvard Apparatus). (c) To improve optical access to HSPC (red) and their neighboring cells (green), cortical bone over one specific BM compartment is removed and only a thin layer of bone is left. (d) Five overlapping areas were ablated sequentially (region 1 to 5) to provide a full field-of-view (region 3) where optical access is improved.