Laser Ablation for Medical Applications

Abstract

Medical applications of laser are measurement, laser surgery, in-situ monitoring, and processing of medical devices. In this paper, author briefly reviews the trends of medical applications, describes some new applications, and then discuss about the future trends and problems of medical applications. At present, the domestic market of laser equipment for medical applications is nearly 1/10 of that for industrial applications, which has registered significant growth continuously. Laser surgery as a minimum invasive surgery under arthroscope is expected to decrease the pain of patients. Precise processing such as cutting and welding is suitable for manufacturing medical devices. Pulsed laser deposition has been successfully applied to the thin film coating. The corneal refractive surgery by ArF excimer laser has been widely accepted for its highly safe operation. Laser ablation for retinal implant in the visual prosthesis is one of the promising applications of laser ablation in medicine. New applications with femtosecond laser are expected in the near future.