Experimental Use of Laser in Otosclerotic Stapes

Abstract

CERTAIN characteristics of the laser suggest its potential usefulness in otology. Foremost is the very small and discrete area that can be irradiated without affecting adjacent tissue. For example, the light produced by a laser can be so focused that it can damage a single large blood cell without evident injury to nearby cells. Since all of the light energy in the pulsed laser is emitted in a short time, the laser is a narrow beam of extremely high power. Another important feature is that the light generated by the laser is of a very narrow frequency band. This enables us to predict to some extent which tissues will absorb and which will transmit the laser light beam. A ruby laser, for instance, has a wave length of 0.649μ and falls into the visible spectrum whereas a neodymium laser has a wave length of 1.06μ and falls into the infrared