Leon Goldman - Böcker

The laser's range of application is extraordinary. Arthur Schawlow says, "What instrument can shuck a bucket of oysters, correct typing errors, fuse atoms, lay a straight line for a garden bed, repair detached retinas, and drill holes in dia monds?"O The laser's specifically biomedical uses cover a similarly broad and interesting spectrum. In this book, I have endeavored to convey some of the fas cination that the laser has long held for me. It is my hope that both clinicians and researchers in the various medical and surgical specialties will find the book a use ful introduction. Biologists, particularly molecular biologists, should also find a great deal of relevant information herein. This volume's distinguished contributors provide admirably lucid discussions of laser principles, instrumentation, and current practice in their respective special ties. Safety, design, capabilities, and costs of various lasers are also reviewed. We have aimed to create a practical text that is comprehensive but not exhaustive. Our emphasis on the practical, rather than the esoteric, is dictated not only by the short history of biomedical laser use, but by the extent of the community to which this information will appeal.

The laser's range of application is extraordinary. Arthur Schawlow says, "What instrument can shuck a bucket of oysters, correct typing errors, fuse atoms, lay a straight line for a garden bed, repair detached retinas, and drill holes in dia­ monds?"O The laser's specifically biomedical uses cover a similarly broad and interesting spectrum. In this book, I have endeavored to convey some of the fas­ cination that the laser has long held for me. It is my hope that both clinicians and researchers in the various medical and surgical specialties will find the book a use­ ful introduction. Biologists, particularly molecular biologists, should also find a great deal of relevant information herein. This volume's distinguished contributors provide admirably lucid discussions of laser principles, instrumentation, and current practice in their respective special­ ties. Safety, design, capabilities, and costs of various lasers are also reviewed. We have aimed to create a practical text that is comprehensive but not exhaustive. Our emphasis on the practical, rather than the esoteric, is dictated not only by the short history of biomedical laser use, but by the extent of the community to which this information will appeal.

This book is a review of past and current studies and future plans of the Laser Laboratory in Cincinnati and some of the contributions of laser research groups in other medical centers. Special thanks are due to the Directing Physicist of the Laser Labora­ tory, R. James Rockwell. Without his advice, constant supervision and corrections, this enthusiastic investigator would continue to upset even many more people than he has done already. The excuse, of course, is to stimulate much needed interest and controlled research and development of the laser for biology and medicine. The Associate Research Physicist, Ralph Schooley, has worked with many phases of laser research but especially in Q spoiling, Raman spectroscopy, and the almost alchemy of holography. Holography, as of now, provides many opportunities for Gumperson's Law, "If anything can go wrong, it will. " Sincere appreciation is expressed to the Surgeons in the Laser Labora­ tory, who have supplied clinical and investigative surgical supervision often under great difficulties, Dr. V. E. Siler and Dr. Bruce Henderson. We are grateful for help from the Directing Biologist of the Laser Labo­ ratory, Edmond Ritter, the Director of Laser Neurosurgery, Dr. Thomas Brown and the Professor of Neurosurgery, Dr. Robert McLaurin, for important and basic work in laser neurosurgery. Special thanks are given to Robert Meyer, who has given most of the treatments in careful and skillful fashion, and his associate, Robert Otten.

together with the oncologist. For man, the laser must be moved out of the laboratory into the operating room. At present, its true position in the cancer therapy program is not yet known. The greatest attention is being directed to melanoma because of the tremendous energy adsorption capabilities of this heavily pigmented tumor. The next area of interest is in uncommon and com­ mon tumors of blood vessels. Here, too, the color factor influences to a signifi­ cant degree the absorption of the laser. Multiple accessible malignancies are treated also by the laser chiefly to compare the effect here with other modalities of therapy. Finally, as a type of therapy of desperation, lasers are used in the treatment of metastatic lesions. This then, is the brief introduction to the study of the current status of laser cancer research. Intense, difficult and cooperative research of the next few years will determine the role of the laser, an "optical knife", as an investi­ gative or therapeutic instrument. T able of Contents Chapter 1 Laser Instrumentation 1 Chapter 2 Laser Protection . 8 Chapter 3 The Laser Reaction in Tissue 13 Chapter 4 Color Qualities of Tissue in Relation to Laser Radiation 16 Chapter 5 Laser Radiation of Tissue Cultures .