Surgical Lasers

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Photodynamic therapy is used to eradicate tumor tissue and provide enhanced drug delivery.

An obstacle to successful cancer drug therapy is the existence of drug delivery barriers, which result in insufficient and heterogeneous drug delivery to the tumor tissue. This drug delivery problem not only limits the clinical application of existing chemotherapeutics, but also decreases the effectiveness of many new drugs under development. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a modality involving the combination of a photo-sensitizer and laser light, is an established cancer therapy. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of vascular-targeting PDT in eradicating tumor tissue, and modifying vascular barrier function for enhanced drug delivery.

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Ophthalmic surgeons at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas are the first in the Defense Department to employ a state-of-the-art laser that will shorten recovery times for corneal transplantation. They are using a femtosecond laser to dissect human cornea tissue for cornea transplants or refractive surgery.
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The use of low-level lasers for the therapeutic treatment of disease is growing. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) covers a number of techniques, including biostimulation, cold laser therapy, and photodynamic therapy. LLLT uses lowlevel lasers (less than 500 mW) or lightemitting diodes (LEDs) to stimulate or inhibit the cellular energy of tissue without heating it. LLLT helps in wound healing, pain relief, and muscle relaxation. Various LLLT methods used in cosmetic procedures include hair removal and re-growth, cellulite reduction, and reducing scars and inflammatory skin conditions.
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This computerized system accurately guides laser shots to diseased retinal areas.

Diabetic retinopathy resulting from long-term diabetes mellitus is one of the common diseases that leads to choroidal neovascularization (CNV), a leading cause of blindness. Among the currently available treatment methods, a laser can be used to photocoagulate the diseased areas. Several thousand laser shots are usually required during such treatment. Special care must be taken to avoid hitting the blood vessel tree, the macula, the optic disk, and the region among them. For a single eye, this procedure requires up to several hours that are usually divided over many treatment sessions. Consequently, the development of an accurate laser treatment guidance system to treat the whole retina in one session would improve the effectiveness of such procedures.
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