News — richard wolf
The Power of Collimation I: “I’m going to focus like a laser beam…”
2100nm AccuFlex Accumax AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase dornier EndoBeam Flexiva fused silica high power fiber optics Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber karl storz Laser laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse optical fiber Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF ProGuard quanta laser richard wolf scope safe Scopesafe Slimline stonelight tapered fibers TracTip Trimedyne yellowstone
Bill Clinton and George W Bush both promised to 'focus like a laser' on the economy. I'll leave the politics to others and focus like a lens on the lack of scientific rigor for this turn of phrase. At risk of appearing pedantic, I have to point out that lasers aren’t actually focused at all. In fact, collimation (parallelism) is one of the characteristics of laser light that make it unique and useful. Lenses are required to focus laser light. You may ask yourself, “So what? It’s a minor exploitation of poetic license.” I agree, but I needed an entrée suitable for...
Ho:YAG Fibers: One 'Size' Does Not Fit All
2000nm 2100nm AccuFlex Accumax 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 Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF ProGlide ProGuard richard wolf scope safe Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex tapered fibers Thulium thulium laser thulium laser fiber TracTip Trimedyne yellowstone
Today I was asked a question by a prospective customer that I wish to share with the marketplace at large; that marketplace being laser surgical intervention for kidney and gall bladder stones by endoscopy. Q – I have then an additional question, why do you make 2 SMA version adapted to different brand of laser box. When I look at most of urology company offers, they mentioned that their fibers are compatible with SMA connector but indistinguishably if there are specific for Dornier/AMS or Quanta/Lumenis. What is the difference between the referenced fibers (LT/TG): power limitation? A -...
Compatibility Memo for ProFlex™ LLF Holmium Fibers
2100nm AccuFlex Accumax AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase dornier EndoBeam Flexiva Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber karl storz Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF richard wolf scope safe Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex TracTip Trimedyne yellowstone
Smooth Passage™ Holmium Fiber Tips on ProFlex™ LLF
2100nm AccuFlex Accumax AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase chips Clean cut cutting fiber dornier Duotome EndoBeam Fiber Flexiva fused silica GreenLight high power fiber optics Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber karl storz KTP Laser Laser laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy laser machining Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 micromachining MoXy OmniPulse optical fiber Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF ProGlide ProGuard Prostate Surgery quanta laser richard wolf scope safe Scopesafe SideLite Slimline stonelight SureFlex Thulium thulium laser thulium laser fiber TracTip Trimedyne yellowstone
In the course of studying other manufacturers' holmium laser fibers we sometimes observe surprising differences. In this case, we knew that our tips were different -- heck, we gave them a special name -- but just how much difference they made was the surprise. The two fibers in the photo are "1000 micron", meaning they have either a 910 μm or 940 μm core inside a 1 mm diameter glass cladding. The upper one was made by the manufacturer of the laser upon which the two fibers were used and the lower one is our Smooth Passage™ Tip on ProFlex™ LLF. Both fibers...
The Devitrification Cascade -- Blast Shield Disease & Contagion
2100nm AccuFlex Accumax AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase dornier Duotome 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 ProFlex LLF quanta laser richard wolf scope safe Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex Thulium thulium laser thulium laser fiber TracTip Trimedyne yellowstone
Initiation, Progression and Transmission of Holmium Laser Blast Shield Failures My business partner has repeatedly told me not to assume that others know what I know – “Get the information out there, Stephen. Much that you take for granted is new and valuable to others.” It’s hard to know what these nuggets of value are. I am usually enlightened by a customer question, complaint or concern. That is the case for this blog post examining blast shield and fiber failures as an outbreak of disease. While the outbreak described progressed rapidly due to sharing reusable fibers between laser generators, small outbreaks may also...