Lasers and color are very important in the medical field, because different pure colors can be tuned out to be applied in different ways to determine the gross effect of a treatment.
LASER is a process of amplification and not merely a device.
The word is made up from: Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
In this context LASER simply means any of several different colors of light. Each with its own specific characteristics. Lasers and color are very important in the medical field.
Different pure colors can be tuned out of a laser. They are indissolubly intertwined because of the different laser characteristics.
By applying this in different ways, it determines the gross effect of a laser treatment.
Laser components
Any laser machine consists of four primary components:
Active medium – what makes the laser;
Excitation mechanism – power supply;
Feedback mechanism – laser power mirrors; and
Output coupler – front mirror, partially transmissive
Electromagnetic wavelengths
Look at the image left and try to find visible light.
Did you get it?
It is the small portion under the sun that is mostly green and blue.
Visible light is a tiny portion of this broad electromagnetic radiation spectrum.
The human eye can only see visible light wavelengths.
Electromagnetic wavelengths (also known as light and electrical energy) cover a very broad spectrum. The whole spectrum ranges from extremely long electrical waves to extremely short cosmic rays.
Light is locked up in matter. This is the source used for either conventional light or for laser light. Light exhibit characteristics of both photons and waves.
Physical matter can be thought of as light in its solid form, that travel in waves.
Four characteristics of a wave
Wavelength - is the distance between two crests, which determines the color of light.
The shorter the wavelength the bluer the color, and the more energy in the photon. It is expressed as nanometer (nm).
For eg. blue light at 488nm, green light at 515nm and red light at 634 nm;
Frequency - is the number of waves that passes a given point per second and is usually expressed as cycles per second or hertz;
Velocity - is the speed at which light travels and remains constant at 186,000 miles per second. This means frequency and wavelength are inversely proportional – the shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency and the other way around;
Amplitude - is the vertical height of the wave. The higher the wave, the more power it contains.
Lasers and color
Ordinary light sources produce white light. This consists of all colors with no definite separation and with broad wavelengths. Like a rainbow from sunlight shining through a prism.
Different materials produce characteristic colors of light. What does this have to do with lasers and color? Different types of lasers are able to produce their own characteristic colors because of these materials.
Lasers may be tuned to emit only one of the pure colors, because it determines how well the energy of the light is coupled as heat into the tissue. This determines the gross effect such as vaporization versus coagulation.
The range of color is very important. Blue-green is vastly different from infra-red. Absolute spectral purity is usually superfluous when using the laser to cut or vaporize tissue. Pure color is important in physics and chemistry research.
Lasers and color in the medical field
Ophthalmology, or eye surgery, is one area of medicine in which lasers and color are very important. To be more specific, the fine tuning of color. During macular work the laser must be positioned correctly to work at various levels of the retina.
The colors are fine tuned from blues to greens to yellows and reds in order to spare the sensitive portions of the retina. Sunlight has many colored waves, LED light is monochrome and non-coherent, while lasers waves are coherent.
Dermatology needs color specificity for aesthetics. It is becoming increasingly more important in the treatment of portwine stains and other vascular lesions. The yellow light from dye lasers and copper bromide lasers is much more selective and therefore sparing to the skin.
The wavelength range also becomes important in laser hair removal methods. Both skin and hair color must be considered to prevent damage to dark skin. Lasers and color simply can't be separated.
Spectral purity is also critical in Photodynamic Therapy. It is currently aproved for the treatment of esophageal and pulmonary tumors. Lasers and color has many widespread applications besides these two medical applications.
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