Soft tissue laser surgery

Soft tissue laser surgery

Laser surgery offers unique surgical capabilities and significant benefits to both patients and surgeons [D.H. Sliney, S.L. Trokel: Medical lasers and their safe use, ISBN 3-540-97856-9] .

In soft tissue laser surgery, interaction of laser light with the soft tissue provides a fundamentally different approach to surgery. A highly focused laser beam vaporizes the soft tissue with the high water content. Laser can make very small incisions when the beam is focused on the tissue (focal spot size can be as small as ~0.1 mm, but the most widely used in practice is 0.4 mm). When the beam is defocused, the intensity of the laser light on the tissue diminishes, and it can be used for cauterization of small blood vessels and lymphatics, therefore decreases post-operative swellings. Laser beam has a natural sterilization effect -- it evaporates bacteria, viruses and fungi, which leads to a decrease in local infections. Probably most important, the laser decreases post-operative pain by sealing nerve endings. Soft Tissue Laser Surgery is differentiated from Hard Tissue Laser Surgery (bones and teeth in dentistry [D.J.Coluzzi, R.A.Convissar, Atlas of Laser Applications in Dentistry, Quintessense Books, ISBN 978-0-86715-476-4] ) and Laser Eye Surgery (eye sight corrective surgeries [http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/ URL accessed March 25, 2008] ) by the type of lasers used in a particular type of laser surgery. Hard Tissue surgical lasers are dominated by s operating at the wavelengths around 3,000 nm. Laser Eye Surgeries utilize excimer lasers in the UV range of wavelengths. Unlike many solid-state and diode lasers in the visible and near infrared wavelength range (600-2,000 nm), the Carbon dioxide or CO2 laser wavelength (10,600 nm) is highly absorbed by in-vivo soft tissues containing water [http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/vibrat.html Water Absorption Spectrum. URL accessed April 3, 2008] . Furthermore, modern CO2 laser technology makes these lasers far more affordable than solid-state Er:YAG lasers, which also feature a wavelength that is highly absorbed by water. Because of their unique wavelength and precision, CO2 lasers remain the dominant soft tissue surgical lasers. Surgical laser systems are differentiated not only by the wavelength, but also by the light delivery system: flexible fiber or articulated arm, as well as many other factors.

Soft tissue laser surgery is widely practiced in a variety of applications in human (General surgery, Neurosurgery, ENT, Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery [A. Moritz: Oral Laser Applications, Quintessense Books, ISBN 1-850-97150-1] etc.) as well as veterinary [N. Berger, P.H.Eeg, Veterinary Laser Surgery, Blackwell, ISBN 978-0-8138-0678-5] [http://www.veterinary-laser.com/state-of-art-laser-surgery.php Veterinary laser surgery, URL accessed March 25, 2008] surgical fields.

ee also

*Laser scalpel
*Laser resurfacing

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Laser surgery — is surgery using a laser to cut tissue instead of a scalpel. Examples include the use of a laser scalpel in otherwise conventional surgery, and soft tissue laser surgery, in which the laser beam vaporizes soft tissue with high water content.… …   Wikipedia

  • Laser scalpel — A laser scalpel is a scalpel for surgery, cutting or ablating living biological tissue by the energy of laser light. In soft tissue laser surgery, a laser beam ablates or vaporizes the soft tissue with the high water content.In ophthalmology… …   Wikipedia

  • Surgery — This article is about the medical specialty. For other uses, see Surgery (disambiguation). A cardiothoracic surgeon performs a mitral valve replacement at the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. Surgery (from the Greek …   Wikipedia

  • Laser interstitial thermal therapy — The term laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT, also referred to as laser induced interstitial thermotherapy or laser induced thermotherapy or interstitial laser therapy) is a surgical procedure in which destruction of soft tissues in the body …   Wikipedia

  • Laser diode — Top: a packaged laser diode shown with a penny for scale. Bottom: the laser diode chip is removed from the above package and placed on the eye of a needle for scale …   Wikipedia

  • Laser applications — There are many scientific, military, medical and commercial laser applications which have been developed since the invention of the laser in the 1958. The coherency, high monochromaticity, and ability to reach extremely high powers are all… …   Wikipedia

  • laser — /lay zeuhr/, n. Physics. a device that produces a nearly parallel, nearly monochromatic, and coherent beam of light by exciting atoms to a higher energy level and causing them to radiate their energy in phase. Also called optical maser. [1955 60; …   Universalium

  • surgery — /serr jeuh ree/, n., pl. surgeries for 3 5. 1. the art, practice, or work of treating diseases, injuries, or deformities by manual or operative procedures. 2. the branch of medicine concerned with such treatment. 3. treatment, as an operation,… …   Universalium

  • Tissue engineering — Principle of tissue engineering Tissue engineering was once categorized as a sub field of bio materials, but having grown in scope and importance it can be considered as a field in its own right. It is the use of a combination of cells,… …   Wikipedia

  • Plastic surgery — Plastic surgeon Occupation Names Doctor, Medical Specialist Activity sectors Surgery Description Education required MD or MBBS or DO US[1] Plastic surgery is a …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”