Title :
Flexible waveguides for Er-YAG laser radiation delivery
Author :
Gannot, Israel ; Schr?¼nder, Stephan ; Dror, Jacob ; Inberg, A. ; Ertl, Thomas ; Tschepe, Johannes ; M?¼ller, Gerhard J. ; Croitoru, Nathan
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Tel Aviv Univ., Israel
Abstract :
Flexible plastic waveguides (FPW) were devised for the delivery of Er-YAG laser radiation. The FPW characteristics were studied under various conditions. In vitro studies were carried out to explore the drilling procedure on extracted teeth and the FPW-tissue mutual effects. The results which were obtained proved that the FPW as a delivery device might be a substitute hand applicator for the pneumatic turbine for drilling in teeth.
Keywords :
biomedical equipment; erbium; laser applications in medicine; optical waveguides; solid lasers; Er:YAG; Er:YAG laser radiation delivery; Er:YAl5O12; drilling procedure; extracted teeth; flexible plastic waveguides; medical instrumentation; substitute hand applicator; teeth drilling; waveguide-tissue mutual effects; Chemical lasers; Dielectrics; Drilling; Fiber lasers; Laser beam cutting; Lenses; Plastics; Teeth; Turbines; Waveguide lasers; Dental Cavity Preparation; Dental Instruments; Equipment Design; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Humans; Laser Therapy; Surface Properties; Temperature;
Journal_Title :
Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
