A new laser scalpel--a brief report.
One may consider the clad silica fibre cutting probe as a cheap alternative of the popular sapphire probe, sharing some of its properties. Made of silica, the scalpels have a fair heat tolerance and may be used without cooling by liquids or gas as is necessary with sapphire blades. The laser scalpel described here is driven (powered) with a 10 W cw Nd:YAG laser energy source (1064 nm) and possesses good cutting and haemostatic properties. It may also be used with lasers emitting other wavelengths. One may assume that a diode laser emitting in the near infrared (800-810 nm) may have very similar, although no analogous cutting properties when used with the described scalpel.
Rol
P
P
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Fankhauser
F
F
Henchoz
P D
PD
Kwasniewska
S
S
Dürr
U
U
England
C
C
Van der Zypen
E
E
Niederer
P
P
D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
D012822:Silicon Dioxide