Medical Ophthalmology

The laser existed in theory long before it existed in reality. Albert Einstein was exploring the concept as early as 1917 when he was writing his seminal study on The Quantum Theory of Radiation. But even after the first working laser was successfully tested in 1960, people were skeptical about whether light could be used as a physical medical instrument. Less than five decades later, however, the laser has become one of the most versatile tools in the various fields of medical surgery.

Lasers have a variety of unique physical properties, which can be finely adjusted and changed in order to accomplish different surgical tasks. The light color and intensity of a laser and the way in which it interacts with the targeted tissue can be controlled, so that it becomes one the most delicate and precise instruments that a surgeon can have at his or her disposal.

The most well known surgical field in which lasers have made a huge impact is in the field of ophthalmology, or eye surgery. The excimer laser, which was invented in 1970 by Nikolai Basov, was especially useful. Rather than burn through tissue, the excimer laser conducts enough energy towards a targeted area so that it breaks down the bonds that hold tissue together. This allows ophthalmologists to target precise and often extremely thin layers of tissue without running the risk of damaging surrounding tissue.

But lasers have been used in other kinds of surgery as well. Laser scalpels, for example, have become one of the most precise and useful tools when there’s the need for making exact, delicate incisions during surgery. Laser scalpels are usually composed using carbon dioxide lasers. They are highly focused and accurate, enabling doctors to make cuts at the exact same, constant depth, whereas conventional metal scalpels run the risk of cutting too deeply. Also, lasers cauterize blood vessels even as they cut through tissue, thus preventing excessive blood loss.

Lasers have helped by eliminating the need for certain kinds of surgeries. For example, the open chest surgery that used to be required for de-clotting a patient’s arteries is no longer the only option available. The miniaturization of laser technology has made it possible to access a patient’s arteries by inserting a tiny optical fiber array containing a small laser through a patient’s vein, on the arm or leg. Using the optic fiber as a guide, doctors can travel through a patient’s veins to the arteries and fire the laser to destroy the harmful plaque.

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By: Ryan Frank