around, LLLT has been used to address
hair loss, arthritis, chronic back and neck
pain, wound healing and body contouring.
The typical amount of power used in these
applications is 0.3 to 19 J/cm2 – so low in
fact that near-IR LEDs are used as an al-
ternative by some practitioners. There has
been a great deal of controversy over the
effectiveness of LLLT, with proponents
convinced of the health benefits. Unfortu-
nately, there is very little research pub-
lished thus far showing repeatable positive
results.
OptiMedica’s Catalys laser system facilitates a smooth incision into the lens capsule,
making cataract removal easy and safe for the patient. Courtesy of Business Wire.
The Light in Your Eyes
BMW created a stir in September when it announced
it was working to incorporate lasers into its automobile headlight systems.
Shown briefly at the 2011
Frankfurt Motor Show installed in an i8 concept
car, the laser headlights
dazzled onlookers.
The system uses three
blue diode lasers in each of
the car’s four headlights.
The triangulated beams
pass through lenses imbued
with yellow phosphors, which change the blue light to white while also diffusing it. The
combined white light then reflects off a central mirror and onto the road ahead.
BMW sees lasers as a natural replacement for the LED headlamps that are now
becoming increasingly popular. The lasers provide more intense light but require
half as much electrical power overall. The laser diodes also take up less space than the
comparable LED designs needed today, and should last as long as LEDs.
BMW admits that putting its laser headlights into all of its autos is still several years
away, but once that happens, expect a robust laser diode market to crop up as other
automakers make the switch.
BMW has developed automotive headlights that eschew halogen bulbs
and LEDs in favor of diode lasers. Courtesy of BMW.
A single cell was removed from a fruit fly epithelium
using a novel laser technique in which a single holo-graphically shaped pulse replaced multiple strikes
with the beam. The cell to be isolated is marked
with an asterisk in the first frame, and the following
frames are at 6 and 70 s after ablation. Courtesy
of Aroshan K. Jayasinghe, Vanderbilt University.
