Medical laser application: translation into the clinics

Abstract

Medical laser applications based on widespread research and development is a very dynamic and increasingly popular field from an ecological as well as an economic point of view. Conferences and personal communication are necessary to identify specific requests and potential unmet needs in this multi- and interdisciplinary discipline. Precise gathering of all information on innovative, new, or renewed techniques is necessary to design medical devices for introduction into clinical applications and finally to become established for routine treatment or diagnosis. Five examples of successfully addressed clinical requests are described to show the long-term endurance in developing light-based innovative clinical concepts and devices. Starting from laboratory medicine, a noninvasive approach to detect signals related to iron deficiency is shown. Based upon photosensitization, fluorescence-guided resection had been discovered, opening the door for photodynamic approaches for the treatment of brain cancer. Thermal laser application in the nasal cavity obtained clinical acceptance by the introduction of new laser wavelengths in clinical consciousness. Varicose veins can be treated by innovative endoluminal treatment methods, thus reducing side effects and saving time. Techniques and developments are presented with potential for diagnosis and treatment to improve the clinical situation for the benefit of the patient.

The optical properties of mouse skin in the visible and near infrared spectral regions

“…This affirmation is valid for λ= 1100 nm, which is the wavelength that presented the highest δ (Figure 3d), and also is in the spectral range of many biomedical light sources, whose emission is designed for deep penetration. [1, 4, 28] Supposing the investigated target of analysis is located beneath the skin, researchers should perhaps choose the C57BL/6 strain over albino mice, since the differences in penetration depth can occasionally be larger than their skin thickness (Table 1). Therefore, the reported optical coefficients can be used to facilitate development and optimize the outcomes of many biophotonics technologies used in therapeutics, surgery, diagnosis and luminescence detection in biomedicine.…”

“…There is a need to clearly understand light-tissue interactions as an important step before translation into clinical practice. [4] Mouse models have been widely employed in pre-clinical studies, even though the structure of mouse skin has some dissimilarities with human skin. Indeed, since many experimental approaches have first been tested in mice, some recent studies have explored the variation in the optical properties of mouse skin with respect to gender [5], strain and age [6], and pathological conditions, such as inflammatory processes.…”

Homogeneously Emitting, Mechanically Stable, and Efficient fs‐Laser‐Machined Fiber Diffusers for Medical Applications

“…Effects such as photobiomodulation [9][10][11][12], light absorption in tissue [13][14][15], or the stimulation of externally introduced drugs [16][17][18] are used for the light-mediated treatment of diseases. Examples are endovenous laser therapy (ELT) [3,[19][20][21], laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT) [22], or photodynamic therapy (PDT) [2,[16][17][18][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. The principle shall briefly be described on two representative forms of treatment, one for high power ranges (ELT) and one for lower power ranges (PDT).…”

The Role of Blood Foaming in the Mechanism of Endovasal Laser Ablation

“…The accompanying Среди современных хирургических методов лече ния варикозной болезни эндовазальная лазерная об литерация (ЭВЛО) большой подкожной вены (БПВ) занимает ведущее положение, хотя является эмпири ческой технологией, универсальный физичес кий ме ханизм которой, адекватно описывающий процессы, происходящие в патологически измененной вене под действием лазерного излучения, до конца не уста новлен. С момента первого применения в 1999 г. бы ло высказано множество предположений о физиче ском механизме ЭВЛО, основывающемся на процес сах преобразования лазерного излучения в тепло и доставки этого тепла к стенке вены в зависимости от длины волны излучения, типов оптоволокна, а так же способов его обработки [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Однако тепловое воздействие на интиму и, как следствие, воспаление вены являются лишь одним из факторов, вызываю щих облитерацию патологически измененных вен.…”