Laser treatment
Laser treatment (laser therapy) refers to the use of a laser primarily in medicine ( human medicine , dentistry and veterinary medicine , each referred to as medical laser therapy, abbreviated as MLT), but also in paramedical areas, e.g. B. in cosmetics or by alternative practitioners. The aim is to treat (cure or relieve) diseases or undesirable conditions.
There are a variety of uses in almost all areas of medicine. Depending on the treatment goal, the physical properties of the laser are selected in such a way that the desired biological effect on the tissue is achieved. In particular, the wavelength, the intensity, the pulse duration and the pulse frequency influence the interaction with the tissue. Other typical physical properties of the laser such as B. Coherence and polarization, however, usually play no role or a very minor role for laser treatment.
The interaction with the tissue often consists in thermal effects (simple heating), but also in ablation (evaporation or deflagration of tissue) or in chemical changes (especially in photodynamic therapy ).
Some important uses are as follows:
- Laser scalpel
- Ophthalmology : refractive surgery (treatment of ametropia), removal of the cataract , photodynamic therapy , corneal trepanation for keratoplasty
- Dermatology / Cosmetics : Removal of conspicuous skin changes such as pigment spots , visible blood vessels , tattoos , hair, scars , tumors (e.g. warts )
- Lithotripsy (crushing stones) ( gallstones , kidney stones , ureteral stones , bladder stones , urethral stones )
- Dentistry : tooth decay removal
- Laser acupuncture (e.g., smoking cessation)
- Laser treatment of joint pain ( low-level laser therapy )
- Angioplasty : Evaporation of deposits on the vessel walls
The benefits of laser treatments
Laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation . In German this means something like 'light amplification through stimulated emission of radiation'.
The stimulation occurs through various active media. These can e.g. B. semiconductor diodes, a ruby, certain gases such as argon, CO 2 or some other active media. The energy source to stimulate these media can, for. B. be a flash lamp, a gas discharge lamp or electrical power. The aim is to stimulate electrons to leave their orbit in the atom. At the moment of jumping back into the old orbit, energy is released, which is then applied to a specific spot using a laser beam. The laser light moves with a wavelength of 1064 nm in the near-infrared range and is not visible to the human eye. Therefore “auxiliary lasers” are used, which serve as aiming beams.
Lasers are divided into different classes.
A laser safety officer training course with subsequent examination often has to be proven in many medical practices of laser treatment.
Laser treatment in dentistry
Caries can be removed with a laser. The erbium yag laser heats up strongly and removes something from the tooth substance. This procedure is as loud as conventional drills. Since the laser is pulsed and the individual pulses are short, the nerve cannot perceive the stimulus. So the procedure is less painful than the usual drilling.
The laser can also be used against periodontitis , but not against tartar.
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- ^ FJ Duarte: Tunable Laser Applications, Third Edition . CRC Press, ISBN 978-1-4822-6106-6 , pp. 193-313 .
- ↑ a b With light against tooth decay. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 25, 2012 ; Retrieved June 17, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
