Medical Applications of Mid-IR Solid-State Lasers

The potential of medical applications of Mid-IR lasers is still not at its end. Continuous research of laser-tissue interactions steadily opened new fields of medical applications for the Er:YAG laser at 2,94 nm wavelength, due to the high absorption of this wavelength in water, biological soft and hard tissue. Lasers with emission at 2 μm had no routine medical application for a long time due to side effects of the pulsed irradiation with large cavitation bubbles. Only recently, with new laser technology, these lasers in cw and pulsed mode seem to be useful for certain medical treatments, complementary to standard procedures. Absolute medical indications for Mid-IR lasers are still rare but will increase in the near future.With new transmission systems on the basis of fibre technology for the 2 μm and 3μm spectral region endoscopical applications will become possible and help that lasers will be accepted as alternative tools for minimal invasive treatments.

Keywords: Medical laser applications; holmium laser; Er:YAG laser; thulium laser; lasers in dentistry.