We have studied the effect of temperature on laser-induced photodissociation of oxyhemoglobin in vivo by recording the change in the oxygen saturation of arterial blood. We have established that on exposure to lowintensity laser radiation, the local concentration of free oxygen in tissue significantly increases for a body temperature above 40 o C, compared with the normal temperature. We demonstrate a unique option for selectively and locally increasing the concentration of free molecular oxygen in tissue, which promotes enhancement of cell metabolism. We consider the possibilities for biomedical use of this phenomenon. The results obtained show that the temperature dependence of the quantum yield for photodissociation of oxyhemoglobin should be considered in development of new therapeutic methods for laser medicine.Introduction. Optical laser technologies have found practical application in various fields of modern medicine. For example, the biostimulating and therapeutic effect of low-intensity laser radiation is widely used [1][2][3][4], in particular in laser therapy of skin diseases (ulcers, wounds, burns, bedsores, and anaerobic infections). Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been intensively used for cancer treatment [5][6][7].In [8], for the first time we advanced the hypothesis that photodissociation of oxyhemoglobin (HbO 2 ) has a role in the mechanism for the biostimulating and therapeutic effect of low-intensity laser radiation. Based on this hypothesis, we developed the concept of laser-induced photodissociation of HbO 2 and its use in biomedical practice [9][10][11]. Application of laser-induced photodissociation provides a unique option for locally increasing the free oxygen concentration in tissues. We should note that increased oxygen concentration in tissues plays an important role in the in vivo enhancement of many photochemical reactions, including cell metabolism.The proposed hypothesis and the developed concept of laser-induced photodissociation of HbO 2 were confirmed in vivo in [12,13]. In [12], it was shown that when arterial blood is exposed to low-intensity laser radiation through the skin, the oxygen saturation (SaO 2 , the degree of saturation of blood hemoglobin by oxygen) decreases. In [13], laser-induced photodissociation of HbO 2 was used to improve the efficacy of photodynamic therapy. In experiments on animals, it was established that supplying additional free molecular oxygen to tumor tissue by means of laser-induced dissociation of HbO 2 substantially increases the therapeutic effect of photodynamic therapy. At the same time, the increase in oxygen concentration is limited by the low quantum yield for photodissociation of HbO 2 (<10%) [14]. Accordingly, a promising approach would seem to be to investigate the possibility of increasing the quantum yield for photodissociation of HbO 2 by raising the temperature of the tissue. The temperature dependence of the quantum yield of HbO 2 was studied in vitro in [15].