RESEARCH INTO SURGICAL USES OF A 2.9 MICROMETER LASER

THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF LASERS FOR SURGICAL APPLICATIONS HAS RESULTED IN NEW RESEARCH INTO THE INTER- ACTION BETWEEN LASER RADIATION AND TISSUE. FROM THIS RESEARCH HAS COME AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SURGICAL LASERS THAT MAXIMIZE THE ABLATION OF TISSUE AND MINIMIZE DAMAGE TO SURROUNDING AREAS. A PULSED LASER OPERATING AT A WAVELENGTH OF 2.9 MICROMETERS HAS THESE CHARACTERISTICS AND CAN BE READILY TRANSMITTED THROUGH THIN,FLEXIBLE FLUORIDE-GLASS FIBERS. THIS IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE FOR CONVENIENCE AND ALSO FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTIRELY NEWSURGICAL PROCEDURES. THE EFFORTS IN THIS PROPOSAL WOULD RESULT IN THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF A PULSED, 2.9 MICROMETER-WAVELENGTH, SOLID-STATE LASER BASED ON ERBIUM-ION-DOPED CRYSTALS. A SERIES OF TISSUE- INTERACTION EXPERIMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED WITH THE LASER, AND AN OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL OF THE LASER SYSTEM FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATION WILL BE CARRIED OUT. BASED ON CURRENT UNDERSTANDING, IT APPEARS THAT THE AVAILABILITY OF A RELIABLE, PULSED 2.9- MICROMETER LASER WOULD HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON LASER- SURGERY TECHNIQUES AND CAPABILITIES.