by
Andrea Alstad, Marketing & Communications Coord,
ASLMS | February 25, 2015
From the January/February 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
According to Lanzafame, “The system is currently being marketed to gynecologists. However, the platform is certainly capable of much broader use in minimally invasive surgery.” Some of the most exciting advances for lasers and energy-based devices have taken place in the area of cancer treatment. Applications include the use of these devices for tumor resection or ablation as well as in combination with drugs for photodynamic
therapy, and interstitial thermotherapy. During Laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT), laser light at the tip of an optical fiber raises the temperature of the tumor cells and damages or destroys them. The FDA cleared an LITT device for use in neurosurgery in 2009.
Photomedicine
In addition to the use of lasers in surgery, the application of lasers and energy-based devices extends into in the area of photomedicine, which includes Photodynamic Therapy and Photobiomodulation.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT)
A drug, called a photosensitizer (which is a substance that sensitizes an organism, cell, or tissue to light), is injected into a patient and absorbed into cells in the body, staying longest in the cancer cells. Laser light is then used to activate the agent and destroy the cancer cells. PDT is usually used to treat tumors on or just beneath the skin, or on the lining of internal organs or cavities. Areas of treatment include pre-skin-cancers, esophageal cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer.
According to the National Cancer Institute, clinical trials are being conducted to evaluate the use of PDT for cancers of the brain, skin, prostate, cervix and peritoneal cavity. Also under development are more powerful photosensitizers, ways to more specifically target cancer cells and the delivery of the activating light.
Photobiomodulation
Photobiomodulation (PBM) also known as low level light therapy (LLLT) was first developed in the 1960s. It is a form of photonic therapy that utilizes non-ionizing light sources, including LASERS, broad band light, and LEDs in the visible and infrared spectrum that result in therapeutic benefits including alleviation of pain or inflammation, immunomodulation and promotion of wound healing and tissue regeneration. PBM is a non-visual, non-thermal process.
In this therapy, light energy (photons) penetrates tissue, where it interacts with chromophores located in cells, resulting in photophysical and photochemical changes that lead to alterations at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels of the body. Light induces a complex chain of physiological reactions in diseased and damaged tissues to accelerate wound healing and tissue regeneration, increase circulation, reduce acute inflammation, reduce acute and chronic pain and help restore normal cellular function. Interestingly, recent research indicates that light can enhance performance in normal tissues and cells.
