Diode Lasers In Neurosurgery

This book is the result of the authors' many years of experience in using neurosurgical lasers. They began using laser diodes in their speciality at the start of the 1990s, making them pioneers in the field. The first part of the book deals with the general physical bases and comparative bio-tissue effects of the various kinds of surgical laser, safety measures required and legislation concerning powerful lasers. The second part focuses on laser diodes alone. The authors describe in detail how they use them to operate on intracranial and intraspinal tumours, in intraventricular endoscopy, and in surgery involving epilepsy. Details are given of: technical data; the choice of parameters depending on how the lasers are used (contact and non-contact, and the type of lesion being operated on) as well as their indications in neurosurgery. The authors emphasise the practical recommendations that make this book a valuable companion for current and potential users working in neurosurgery and other surgical applications. They also mention the new and future uses of laser diodes which are currently being developed and which show that this equipment really does represent a new generation of lasers. About 100 colour illustrations and tables are used to explain and underscore the authors' points.

Developments in the field of instrumentation of innovative instrumentation. Although laser applications have permeated nearly every aspect are among the major contributions to human advancement. The history of surgery has seen of surgical therapy, the expectations have fre many revolutionary developments cause quantum quently been unrealistic and the evaluation of leaps in progress. Electrocautery, the anesthesia technological development has always been machine, computed axial tomography, and the painfully slow. The properties of vaporization, surgical microscope are all revolutionary in coagulation, and cutting unified in an invisible struments that have irrevocably changed the shaft of light have enabled the neurosurgeon to direction of neurological surgery. vaporize inaccessible tumors of brain and spinal In the early stages of application, there are cord, harness recalcitrant bleeding sites, and cut always detractors and valid controversy concern through the most formidable calcified tumors. ing the value of a new instrument. Some will The application of this new energy form in remember those who argued that the magnifica tandem with the surgical microscope has, in my tion and illumination provided by the micro opinion, extended the scope of all aspects of scope were not valuable to the skilled surgeon neurosurgery. We have much more work to do. and would prolong the operative time and in lt is necessary to document improved results and crease infection rates. Others may recall that demand technological advances and safe inno Cushing was told to abandon the blood pressure vations.

​This book serves as a foundation for MRI guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) across neurosurgical diseases. It provides state-of-the-art information on the latest indications and results for LITT in CNS applications, as well as prerequisite historical perspective and technical fundamentals. Written by experts in the field, the text reviews the historical development of LITT, the technical and technological components required to perform LITT, its indications and contraindications, areas that still require investigation, LITT complications, and challenges to starting up LITT within one’s practice. As early adopters of the technology, the authors provide sage advice that reflects the initial learning curves of many of the users. The book then concludes with a practical guide to starting up a LITT practice in the current medical socioeconomic environment. Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy in Neurosurgery is a guide that will allow all neurosurgeons interested in LITT to successfully adopt the technology and incorporate its use seamlessly, safely and appropriately into their individual practices.

Since the introduction of electrosurgery the techniques of surgery on the nervous system have passed through further improvements (bipolar coagulation, microscope), even if the procedure was not substantially modified. Today, laser represents a new "discipline", as it offers a new way of performing all basic maneuvers (dissection, demolition, hemostasis, vessel sutures). Furthermore, laser offers the possibility of a special maneuver, namely reduction of the volume of a tumoral mass through vaporization. Its application is not restricted to traditional neurosurgery but extends also to stereotactic and vascular neurosurgery. Laser surgery has also influenced the anesthesiologic techniques. At the same time new instrumentation has been introduced: CUSA ultrasonic aspiration, echotomography, and Doppler flowmeter. I have had the chance to utilize these new technologies all at a time and have come to the conclusion that we are facing the dawn of a new methodology which has already shown its validity and lack of inconveniences, and whose object is to increase the precision of neurological surgery. The technological development is still going on, and some improvements are to be foreseen. Laser scalpel is splitting the initial laser surgery into NO TOUCH and TOUCH surgery with laser. As new instrumentarium will be developed, a variable and tunable beam will become available. For example, in a few years Free Electron Laser will further add to the progress in this field.

Shaped by Quantum Theory, Technology, and the Genomics RevolutionThe integration of photonics, electronics, biomaterials, and nanotechnology holds great promise for the future of medicine. This topic has recently experienced an explosive growth due to the noninvasive or minimally invasive nature and the cost-effectiveness of photonic modalities in