The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 05, 1991
Filed:
Dec. 21, 1989
William B Tiffany, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Coherent, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A medical treatment laser is disclosed that minimizes absorption of laser energy along the beam path by using a lasing medium having a principal emission at a wavelength shifted from the absorption wavelength. In the preferred embodiment, a CO.sub.2 laser filled with the .sup.13 C.sup.16 O.sub.2 isotope is used. The .sup.13 C.sup.16 O.sub.2 isotope generates a laser beam having a principal emission wavelength near 11.2 microns. The absorption of this wavelength in the conventional CO.sub.2 purge and insufflation gases is quite small compared to the absorption of the 10.59 micron wavelength emitted by the standard CO.sub.2 isotope. The difference in absorption allows the power generated by the laser to be maximally transmitted to the medical treatment site. In addition, the 11.2 micron line has a greater coefficient of absorption in human tissue, thereby enhancing surgery.