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Low‐Power Contact Nd: YAG Laser Endoscopy
Author(s) -
MIWA Takeshi,
SUZUKI Sohtaro
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
digestive endoscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.5
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1443-1661
pISSN - 0915-5635
DOI - 10.1111/j.1443-1661.1992.tb00237.x
Subject(s) - medicine , laser , hemostasis , biomedical engineering , surgery , optics , physics
Abstract:Laser application in gastrointestinal endoscopy started with the development of flexible optical fibers in about 1970. Originally, non‐contact irradiation with high power Nd: YAG lasers of 100 watts (W) was used for gastrointestinal hemostasis. It was difficult to achieve safe and reliable irradiation with this method, the quarts fiber tips were susceptible to coagulation damage, and the cost was high. As a result local injections were recognized as an inexpensive and excellent method of producing hemostasis, and became the treatment of first choice. Therefore, the endoscopic use of lasers shifted from hemostasis to the topical treatment of tumors . In 1984 low‐power Nd: YAG laser irradiation at 1 to 30W became possible using a ceramic contact probe co‐developed by the authors and the Surgical Laser Technology Japan Co. This made photocoagulation, vaporization, cutting and local hyperthermia (Laserthermia) feasible. Improvements in laser irradiation efficiency led to the development of inexpensive equipment, costing less than one‐third of the price of conventional equipment. The application of low‐power contact lasers significantly improved the clinical efficacy of the treatment of minute cancers, but the technique has the same limitations as other endoscopic methods. Furthermore, because laserthermia is still being developed, the best technique has not yet been fully defined . In the future, treatments that can be used effectively in association with low‐power contact laser therapy need to be identified. Low‐power contact laserthermia, local hyperthermia with microwaves, and photodynamic therapy with excimer dye lasers all need to be studied further. This will contribute to the development of a minimum invasive therapy for gastrointestinal lesions .