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Fundamentals of Laser Physics

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Lasers in Neurosurgery

Part of the book series: Foundations of Neurological Surgery ((FONS,volume 1))

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a discussion of the basic physical principles involved in the operation of the laser. Although an in-depth discussion of the physical principles involved in the generation and control of a laser beam can involve complicated mathematical and theoretical physics, the inclusion of complicated concepts is not requisite to an understanding of these principles sufficient for the surgeon. Only those principles necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the laser in various neurosurgical applications will be presented in this discussion. Several recent reviews on the subject are available, which may provide additional information [2–5, 7, 8].

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References

  1. Clark WC, Robertson JH, Gardner G: Selective absorption and control of thermal effects: A comparison of the laser systems used in otology and neurotology. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 92:73–79, 1984.

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  3. Fuller TA: The physics of surgical lasers. Lasers Surg Med 1:5–14, 1981.

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  4. Glover JL, Bendick PJ, Link WJ: The use of thermal knives in surgery: Electrosurgery, lasers, plasma scalpel. Curr Prob Surg 15:34–42, 1978.

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  5. Hudgins WR, Jacques D: The laser in neurosurgery. In Rand RW (ed): Microneurosurgery. St. Louis, 1985, pp 49–61.

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  6. Jain KK: Incision of the brain with the varipulse carbon dioxide laser: A preliminary study for potential application in neurosurgery. Neurosurgery 18:762–765, 1986.

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  7. Polanyi TG: Physics of surgery with lasers. Clin Chest Med 6:179–202, 1985.

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  8. Robertson JH, Clark WC: Carbon dioxide laser in neurosurgery. Contemp Neurosurgery 5:1–6, 1984.

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© 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Clark, W.C. (1988). Fundamentals of Laser Physics. In: Robertson, J.H., Clark, W.C. (eds) Lasers in Neurosurgery. Foundations of Neurological Surgery, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1763-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1763-0_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8989-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1763-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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