Laser medicine

Laser medicine consists in the use of lasers in medical diagnosis, treatments, or therapies, such as laser photodynamic therapy,[1] photorejuvenation, and laser surgery.

CW rhodamine dye laser emitting near 590 nm, one typically used in early medical laser systems.

Laser radiation being delivered, via a fiber, for photodynamic therapy to treat cancer.

A 40 watt CO₂ laser with applications in ENT, gynecology, dermatology, oral surgery, and podiatry

Lasers

Lasers used in medicine include in principle any type of laser, but especially:

• CO₂ lasers,[2] used to cut, vaporize, ablate and photo-coagulate soft tissue.[3]
• diode lasers[4]
• dye lasers[1][5]
• excimer lasers
• fiber lasers[6]
• gas lasers
• free electron lasers
• semiconductor diode lasers[7]

Applications in medicine

Examples of procedures, practices, devices, and specialties where lasers are utilized include:

• angioplasty[5]
• cancer diagnosis[7][8]
• cancer treatment[9]
• Dentistry
• cosmetic dermatology such as scar revision, skin resurfacing, laser hair removal, tattoo removal[5]
• dermatology,[5] to treat melanoma
• frenectomy
• lithotripsy[5]
• laser mammography[10]
• medical imaging[10]
• microscopy[11][12]
• ophthalmology (includes Lasik and laser photocoagulation)
• optical coherence tomography[6]
• optogenetics[13]
• prostatectomy
• plastic surgery, in laser liposuction,[14] and in treatment of skin lesions (congenital and acquired) and in scar management (burns and surgical scars)
• surgery,[6][15] to cut, ablate, and cauterize tissue

See also

Media related to Laser medicine at Wikimedia Commons

• Dental laser
• Endovenous laser therapy
• Laser-assisted new attachment procedure
• Laser surgery
• Light therapy
• Low level laser therapy
• Photodynamic therapy
• Photomedicine

References

1. Duarte F. J.; Hillman, L.W. (1990). Dye Laser Principles, with Applications. Boston: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-222700-X.
2. Polanyi, T.G. (1970). "A CO₂ Laser for Surgical Research". Med. & Biol. Engng. 8: 541–548. doi:10.1007/bf02478228.
3. "Soft-Tissue Laser Surgery - CO2 Surgical Laser - LightScalpel". LightScalpel. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
4. Loevschall, Henrik (1994). "Effect of low level diode laser irradiation of human oral mucosa fibroblasts in vitro". Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 14 (4): 347–354. doi:10.1002/lsm.1900140407.
5. Costela A, Garcia-Moreno I, Gomez C (2016). "Medical Applications of Organic Dye Lasers". In Duarte FJ (ed.). Tunable Laser Applications (3rd ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 293–313. ISBN 9781482261066.
6. Popov S (2016). "Fiber Laser Overview and Medical Applications". In Duarte FJ (ed.). Tunable Laser Applications (3rd ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 263–292. ISBN 9781482261066.
7. Duarte FJ (2016). "Broadly Tunable External-Cavity Semiconductor Lasers". In Duarte FJ (ed.). Tunable Laser Applications (3rd ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 203–241. ISBN 9781482261066.
8. Duarte, Francisco Javier (Sep 28, 1988), Two-laser therapy and diagnosis device, EP0284330A1, retrieved 2016-04-18
9. Goldman L (1990). "Dye Lasers in Medicine". In Duarte FJ; Hillman LM (eds.). Dye Laser Principles. Boston: Academic Press. pp. 419–32. ISBN 0-12-222700-X.
10. Carroll FE (2008). "Pulsed, Tunable, Monochromatic X-rays: Medical and Non-Medical Applications". In Duarte FJ (ed.). Tunable Laser Applications (2nd ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 281–310. ISBN 1-4200-6009-0.
11. Orr BJ; Haub J G; He Y; White RT (2016). "Spectroscopic Applications of Pulsed Tunable Optical Parametric Oscillators". In Duarte FJ (ed.). Tunable Laser Applications (3rd ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 17–142. ISBN 9781482261066.
12. Thomas JL, Rudolph W (2008). "Biological Microscopy with Ultrashort Laser Pulses". In Duarte FJ (ed.). Tunable Laser Applications (2nd ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 245–80. ISBN 1-4200-6009-0.
13. Penzkofer A; Hegemann P; Kateriya S (2018). "Organic dyes in optogenetics". In Duarte FJ (ed.). Organic Lasers and Organic Photonics. London: Institute of Physics. pp. 13–1 to 13–114. ISBN 978-0-7503-1570-8.
14. Przylipiak AF, Galicka E, Donejko M, Niczyporuk M, Przylipiak J (Oct 2013). "A comparative study of internal laser-assisted and conventional liposuction: a look at the influence of drugs and major surgery on laboratory postoperative values". Drug Des Devel Ther. 7: 1195–200. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S50828. PMC 3798112. PMID 24143076.
15. Jelinkova H, ed. (2013). Lasers for Medical Applications: Diagnostics, Therapy, and Surgery. Oxford: Woodhead. ISBN 978 0 85709 237 3.