applications mEdical treatmentIntensive
Warren clark explores current and future opportunities for photonics in the medical field
P 12 ElEctro optics l october 2011
erhaps the greatest opportunity for the impact that the laser can have on our lives is in medicine. Though photonic technology permeates our
lives through consumer products every day, it is the lifesaving potential of laser-based techniques that can make the masses sit up and take note of photonics in a major way. Matthias Schulze, director of marketing for OEM components and instrumentation at Coherent, says: ‘Medical laser applications are split up in to two major areas – discretionary spending (paid for by the consumer), and procedures covered by insurance. As a supplier to this market, we need to monitor where the money flow is and develop products accordingly. For example, during the recent economic crisis, discretionary spending – on
a measurement being taken in a lung by professor dr l Freitag, at the ruhrlandklinik, Essen. a tumorous section of the bronchus is visible. on the right hand side, the tip of the fibre optical device from avantes can be seen, with an overlay of the measured fluorescence peak. the device has an outer diameter of only 800µm, so it passes easily through the working channel of the bronchoscope
non-essential cosmetic procedures, for example – fell dramatically, and only started to pick up when the macro-economic conditions improved.’ From a technical perspective, the demands on the laser are very different to the more ‘conventional’ industrial uses, where the expectation is that lasers operate 24/7. ‘The challenge within the medical market is the difference in expectations as to how the laser should perform,’ continues Schulze.
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