Pharmaceutical & medical
HIGH-PRECISION MEDICAL LASER VALIDATION FOR ADVANCED ONCOLOGY TREATMENTS
T
he development and manufacturing of laser systems for biomedical and life sciences applications requires extremely high levels of precision, control, and stability. In applications such as photodynamic therapy, photoimmunotherapy, fluorescence imaging, and biomedical illumination, the laser output is not judged only by power, but also by spectral performance. The wavelength must be right, the spectral profile must be understood, and weak optical content close to the main signal must be visible clearly enough to support confident engineering decisions.
Modulight is a Finnish laser manufacturer serving life sciences and biomedical markets, alongside other high value-add applications. Its technologies support demanding uses such as cancer treatments and ophthalmology. The company was founded in 2000 and is today a publicly listed international business. As a vertically integrated laser manufacturer, Modulight’s in-house capabilities span epitaxial growth, chip fabrication, and laser systems assembly. Its laser portfolio covers wavelengths from ultraviolet (UV) to beyond 3,000 nm (MIR), enabling a broad range of applications in oncology, ophthalmology, fluorescence endoscopy, flow cytometry, and biomedical research. Modulight has leveraged their semiconductor laser know-how into many laser technologies, including multimode laser diodes, single-mode and single-frequency lasers, VCSELs and VECSELs, among others.
Modulight is a trusted supplier and exclusive laser partner to leading pharmaceutical companies, cancer centres and Fortune 500 customers . With the entire production chain of the lasers in their hands and also medical research centre, 25+ years
50
of active involvement in the field, and a team with significant semiconductor laser experience, it is no surprise that they have been rapidly growing.
BACKGROUND
Many of the most demanding biomedical laser applications depend on a precise spectral match between the laser source and a target molecule. Photodynamic therapy relies on lasers that emit at wavelengths matching the photosensitizer’s absorption, ensuring that the photochemical reaction remains confined to the target tissue. Modulight applies this same principle in clinical use cases such as age-related macular degeneration, and integrates it into its laser platforms for PDT, PIT, and fluorescence imaging.
Photosensitizers, fluorophores, and other molecules absorb only within a narrow wavelength band. Being off by even a few nanometers can reduce efficacy. For Modulight, the challenge goes beyond confirming just the center wavelength. The company also needs to control the spectral width (linewidth) to ensure the emission is narrow and avoid off-target excitation, maintain stability over time and temperature to prevent peak drift, and minimise side modes or secondary peaks that could introduce unwanted wavelengths. Different applications impose different optical requirements, so the engineering teams evaluate multiple parameters when characterising laser emission. Depending on the use case, this can include the examining spectral tails, comparing filter transmission against the actual laser spectrum, or detecting weak spectral features adjacent to much stronger ones.
THE CHALLENGE
This is particularly important in fluorescence-related systems. A strong excitation line can sit very close
to a much weaker optical feature, and both need to be seen clearly. If noise obscures the low-level signal, or if the analyser cannot provide enough dynamic range, the engineer loses visibility into behaviour that may matter in the final application. The challenge is made harder by the wavelength range in which Modulight works. According to Dr. Lasse Orsila, optical engineer at Modulight and medical doctor, many relevant biomedical and life sciences applications are in the visible range, where the choice of suitable optical spectrum analysers is narrower than in telecom or near-infrared bands. Modulight therefore requires a spectrum analyser platform that could combine wavelength accuracy, strong sensitivity, wide dynamic range, and practical usability across a wide span of laser development tasks, while also covering the broad wavelength range offered by Yokogawa’s analysers.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS Working across a broad optical range and for a wide variety of clinical and biomedical applications, optical characterisation is a central part of development, validation, and production. Modulight needed an optical measurement platform that could serve both R&D and production-facing work. In applications such as fluorescence imaging, fluorescence endoscopy, photoimmunotherapy (PIT), and ophthalmic treatment and diagnostics,
June 2026 Instrumentation Monthly
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