In 1972, Goldman used Laser in skin cancer. And in 1972, Issac Kaplan (1919-2012), a plastic surgeon, pioneered surgical Laser by developing the Sharplan CO2 Laser, world’s very first surgical CO2 Laser, with his colleague Uzi Sharon. They went on to found Shaplan Laser, a leader in medical CO2 Laser. One of the reasons Kaplan started a CO2 Laser manufacturer was his personal dream of making Laser a surgical tool as convenient as a scalpel.
The previous Lasers lacked handpieces or beam delivery units present in today’s devices and were very difficult to use in clinical practice. Dr. Kaplan tried to solve this problem. Development of supportive devices is just as important in advancement of medical Laser as understanding optical behavior and therapeutic mechanism.
More research on beam delivery system was conducted following the establishment of Shaplan Laser particularly in the US and USSR in the 1970s. One beam delivery system developed during this time is the articulated arm still being used in medical Laser and another is the hollow waveguide used in surgery. The hollow waveguide is a hollow metal tube and has the advantage of being more flexible than the articulated arm. The handpiece was introduced in the 1970s and currently many types of handpieces are available for various aesthetic and surgical procedures.
Table 1. History of Laser development in the 1970s.
HELIOSⅡ/LOTUSⅡ/HYPERION – Manufacturer: LASEROPTEK(www.laseroptek.com)
-To be continued-
