Article: Bright Laser Diodes Combat Cancer

By Lauent Vaissie, QPC Lasers

Recent discoveries based on hyperpolarization of inert gases for enhanced MRI and improved efficacy of long-wavelength laser energy for surgery are enabling earlier and more-accurate diagnosis, as well as alternative treatment for lung cancer. In both cases, laser-diode advances are facilitating the progress.

Power consumption and cost (both initial investment and lifetime service) issues have made semiconductor laser diodes increasingly popular for biomedical applications. But diode lasers offer other benefits too, including technical performance and ease of use. The latest versions are able to supply spatial and spectral brightness sufficient to design new procedures and applications that are pushing medical therapy and diagnostics into uncharted territory. Chief among them is early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. As a couple of examples show, compact, efficient, and low-cost direct-diode laser systems offer particular benefit for finding and treating the deadliest of all cancers: lung cancer.

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