News — Lumenis
“All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right?” Part 6: Minding the Gap
2100nm ACMI laser fiber calculase EndoBeam Fiber Flexiva Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber karl storz Laser laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF quanta laser Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex Thulium thulium laser thulium laser fiber Trimedyne yellowstone
FIGURE 1: Fiber Sleeved with Quartz Ferrule The gap (FIG. 1) between the fiber and the quartz ferrule is a fundamental problem of quartz sleeved fibers because that gap harbors volatile and non-volatile contaminants from production or cleaning. These contaminants are inevitably vaporized and deposit on the blast shield or focusing optic or both. In extreme cases, thermal expansion of materials within the gap can fracture the fiber or the quartz sleeve. Fusing the fiber within the bore of the quartz ferrule eliminates the gap, but new issues arise from fusion. Centricity is typically worst case after fusion...
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Pt.4 -- Fiber Design Evolution
AccuFlex AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber dornier EndoBeam Flexiva Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF quanta laser richard wolf Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex thulium laser fiber Trimedyne yellowstone
Part 4: Fiber Design Evolution -- the early days as reflected in today's products First and foremost, for differentiation among holmium laser fibers, is the issue of fiber dimensions. Frankly, I am astonished at the lack of clarity or standardization in identifying fiber sizes within this industry. Almost all “200 micron” fibers are actually much larger than 200 microns; not as egregiously large as described in some of the urological literature, where total fiber diameters are reported as opposed to the fiber core diameters used by manufacturers, but definitely misleading to the point where incredulity dominates. I’ll have more on fiber sizes in...
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Part 2: So what happened?
AccuFlex AccuTrac advantages of quartz Duotome Flexiva GreenLight Holmium Fiber holmium laser fiber karl storz laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF richard wolf Single Use LLF IFU stonelight Thulium thulium laser yellowstone
So what happened? At the time IQinc was sold, in 2006, we had been making SureFlex™ for a decade since the original BlackHole™ single use design was released. SureFlex had gone through multiple generations of design improvements as described in four US patents, now owned by Boston Scientific. We'd demonstrated to a Lumenis VP that we could deliver 100W from their VersaPulse laser, through our true 200 micron fiber while in a less than a 10mm bend radius: we labeled that fiber, the LLF200TG flagship fiber, at 50W maximum Ho:YAG for routine use. Heck, in an attempt to blow the Lumenis executive away,...
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Part 1: An Introduction
AccuFlex AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase dornier EndoBeam Flexiva Holmium Fiber holmium laser holmium laser fiber karl storz laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex LLF quanta laser richard wolf Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex Thulium thulium laser thulium laser fiber yellowstone
Stephen’s Law of Advancing Technology: Without a leader in innovation, product designs converge. Corollary to Stephen’s Law: Dollar-driven designs approach minimum acceptable performance. A tale of two fibers – it’s not the best quality; it’s not the worst quality (upper left -- connector with huge glue ring, steel tube, glass ferrule and the fiber in the very center; upper right -- close-up of fiber input; lower left -- close-up of working tip; lower right -- comet on output of working tip) While the above is not proof of “Stephen's Law”, it sure supports it. I’m Stephen. The photo series...
UV-Purple-Blue Laser Patent Issues
2000nm 2100nm 405nm 410nm 415nm 420nm 425nm 430nm 435nm 440nm 445nm 450nm 532nm BPH DuoTome GreenLight Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser KTP Laser Lumenis MoXy Photoselective Photoselectivity ProFlex Prostate Surgery SideLite Slimline Thulium
Resurrecting Urine Flow with IQ's Phoenix™ BPH Laser The US Patent Office has informed InnovaQuartz that our multi-wavelength surgical laser, that we have dubbed the Phoenix, has issued (US Pat. No. 9,220,563), precisely one year after it was filed. This laser addresses the deficiencies of other photoselective lasers – photobleaching, charring -- for minimal collateral tissue damage at wavelengths between 380 nm and 450 nm. Phoenix targets multiple tissue chromophores, tissue breakdown products and melanoidins, short-circuiting char formation. 20th CENTURY LASER SURGERY Surgical procedures for removing excess tissue blocking the male urethra (BPH) have advanced a great deal in...