Dye lasers are used, and have been used, in a plethora of medical applications. The list given here is representative but not exhaustive. Although many additional laser types have been integrated to the medical armamentarium, dye lasers still provide an attractive avenue particularly for applications requiring efficient long-pulse emission directly in the visible spectrum. The references included here relate to the highlighted applications.
Cardiology
Dermatology and Laser Treatment of Vascular Lesions
Laser Angioplasty
Laser Cancer Diagnostics
Laser Cancer Phototherapy (Photodynamic Therapy or PDT)
Lithotripsy
Thermolysis
Urology
References
F. J. Duarte, Two-laser therapy and diagnosis device, EP 0284330 A1 (1988).
F. J. Duarte, Pulsed dye laser apparatus for high-prf operation, US Patent 4891817 (1990).
L. Goldman, Dye lasers in medicine, in Dye Laser Principles , F. J. Duarte
and L. W. Hillman, Eds. (Academic, New York, 1990) Chapter 10.
M. D. Ainsworth and J. A. Piper, in Phototherapy of Cancer, G. Morstyn and A. H. Kaye, Eds. (Hardwood Academic, London, 1990) Chapter 3.
K. W. Gregory and R. R. Anderson, Liquid core light guide for laser
angioplasty, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 26, 2289-2296 (1990).
M. R. Prince et al., Ball-tipped fibers for laser angioplasty with the
pulsed dye laser, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 26, 2297-2304 (1990).
L. Goldman (Ed.), Laser Non-Surgical Medicine (Technomic, Lancaster, 1991).
F. J. Duarte, Laser oscillator, US Patent 5181222 (1993).
A. Vassialiadis et al., Dental laser assembly with dual lasers, US Patent 5207576 (1993).
D. Brault, Proceedings of Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer II (SPIE, Bellingham, 1994).
J. A. Harrington, Proceedings of Biomedical Fiber Optic Instrumentation (SPIE, Bellingham, 1994).
F. J. Duarte, Multiple-prism arrays in laser optics, Am. J. Phys. 68, 162-166 (2000).
R. M. Clement, M. N. Kiernan, and K . Donne, Treatment of vascular lessions, US Patent 6398801 (2002).
R. M. Clement and M. N. Kiernan, Reduction of vascular blemishes by selective thermolysis , US Patent 6605083 (2003).
F. J. Duarte and D. R. Foster, Lasers, dye, in The Optics Encyclopedia,
Volume 2, T. G. Brown et al. Eds. (Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2004) pp.
1065-1096.
T. A. King, in Lasers and Current Optical Techniques in Biology, G. Palumbo and R Pratesi (Eds.) (RSC, London, 2004) Chapter 2.
D. H. Titterton, in Handbook of Laser Technology and Applications, C. E. Webb and J. D. C. Jones (Eds.) (Institute of Physics, London, 2004) Chapter B 5.3.
H. R. Aldag and D. H. Titterton, From flashlamp-pumped liquid dye lasers to diode-pumped solid-state dye lasers, SPIE Photonics West (2005).
A. Costela et al., Medical applications of dye lasers, in Tunable Laser Applications, F. J. Duarte (Ed.), 2nd Ed. (CRC, New York, 2009) Chapter 8.
References Mentioning Biomedicine and Photobiology
F. López Arbeloa et al., Structural, photophysical and lasing properties of pyrromethene dyes, Int. Rev. Phys. Chem. 24, 339-374 (2005).
S. Popov et al., Mode supression in microcavity and slid-state dye laser, J. Euro. Opt. Soc. Rapid Publ. 2,
07023 (2007).
S. Ricciardi et al., Thermally induced wavelength tunability of microcavity solid-state dye lasers, Opt. Express 15, 12971-12978 (2007).
P. Escribano et al., Photonic and nanobiophotonic properties of luminescent lanthanide-doped hybrid organic-inorganic materials, J. Mat. Chem. 18, 23-40 (2008).
