Lasers and new trends in laser-tissue interaction

Mid-IR lasers are already used successfully in numerous surgical operations. The Er:YAG and the HF laser, are the main laser sources emitting in the 3.0 μm range of the spectrum, and as this wavelength coincides with the peak of the water and other main soft and hard tissue components absorption curves, it is clear that these lasers would be very useful in numerous medical fields as dentistry, dermatology, angioplasty, ophthalmology etc. Recently, the development of flexible, low loss, able to deliver high power and safe to enter the human body waveguides and fibers for pulsed mid-infrared laser radiation initiated the efforts of the extension of laser surgery in the area of the minimally invasive endoscopy. The laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is proposed for diagnosis in several pathologies, as in arterial atherosclerosis, in malignancy or for early dental caries detection. LIF is also investigated as a suitable method for monitoring the on line laser surgery interventions.