Medical application of 3 μm delivery waveguide system

摘要

The hollow glass waveguide is one of a few instruments favored in industrial and medical fields for the delivery of mid-infrared laser light. The article summarizes the delivery of the Er:YAG laser radiation (λ = 2.94 μm) by the cyclic olefin polymer coated silver hollow glass waveguides with various inner diameters - 320 μm, 700 μm. and 1 mm, and with a length of 0.1 - 1 m. For medical applications, the so called "contact mode", in which the end of the waveguide is in contact with the soft or hard tissues, is discussed. For this treatment special sealed caps were used for preventing the waveguide system damage. Delivery of long (free-running) and short (Q-switched) mid-infrared pulses was investigated. The delivery systems were investigated for the ophthalmic, urologic, and dental tissue treatments. The comparison of interaction effects caused by the laser pulses with various lengths was made.