The 2.94 μm Er:YAG laser Q-switched mechanically by a rotating mirror was developed. The laser generated pulses of 30 mJ energy and duration below 290 ns, which corresponds to over 100 kW peak power. It operated at the repetition rate of up to 25 Hz. To our knowledge it is the most powerful erbium laser operating at so high repetition rate. The developed laser can be successfully applied in medicine -e.g. in microsurgery of soft biological tissues.Laser beam interaction with a gelatin sample

The 2940 nm Er:YAG laser Q-switched mechanically by means of a rotating mirror was developed. It generated the output pulses of up to 30 mJ energy, below 300 ns duration and record repetition rate of 25 Hz. The developed laser was effectively used for the investigation of laser beam interaction with selected organic matter simulants.

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Methods of optical imaging used in medical diagnostic (with taking the newest diagnostic techniques into consideration in particular) have been presented. Selected optical characteristics of tissues having an influence on the range of the classical methods of the optical imaging have been discussed in detail. The respond to the classical method limitations was to use scanning methods and detection techniques consisting in three-dimensional imaging of tissue structures in real time. A specific eye structure allows the wide using of these techniques in ophthalmology. Such advantages like non-invasiveness, non-contactness and high resolution (guaranteeing the safety of a patient) show a huge success of these techniques. The results of the research (conducted in many research centers) point at the wider application possibility of optical scanning method in medical diagnostic.

During the diagnostic research done by means of optical devices equipped with radiation sources from the near infrared range the phenomena indicating the perception possibility of this range by a human eye were observed. In this contribution the initial results of the research of this phenomenon were presented. Sources of radiation applied in laser polarimeters (785 nm) and devices designed for optical coherent tomography (820, 850 nm) were taken into particular consideration. Perception tests with the use of a laser diode generating at the wavelength of 940 nm were also carried out. It was stated that the radiation from the range examined can be recorded by a human eye giving a colour sensation -in practice independently of the wavelength of the radiation beam falling into a retina.