News — Thulium
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Part 7: Cladding Modes
AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase 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 quanta laser richard wolf Scopesafe SideLite Single Use LLF IFU stonelight SureFlex Thulium thulium laser thulium laser fiber Trimedyne yellowstone
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Part 7: Cladding Modes Ignorance of reality yields solutions that function solely as fantasy. What are ‘Cladding Modes’? ‘Cladding modes’ are almost universally misunderstood as being light rays or modes of propagation that are contained solely within the fiber cladding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6yjDPo4AHg Snell’s law precludes the containment described in this video (Figure 1 is adapted from the video), a video that is representative of the majority of descriptions one finds for ‘cladding modes’ in the literature. Figure 1: Classic example of oversimplified and erroneous depiction of ‘cladding modes’ While it is possible to...
“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?” Part 5: Beyond Air Well Terminations
AccuFlex AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase EndoBeam Flexiva Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber karl storz Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF quanta laser richard wolf Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex Thulium thulium laser fiber Trimedyne yellowstone
FIGURE 1: Trimedyne Holmium Fiber Connector (1991 to Present) Another common termination had its genesis (for holmium laser fibers) at Trimedyne right around 1990 (U. S. Patent No. 5,179,610, Milburn, et al., Figure 1). Trimedyne’s solution is elegant; if a bit over the top for 80W. Knowing that the OmniPulse™ holmium laser presented a laser focal spot that is too large to couple to smaller fibers, and knowing that the laser focus tended to bloom and drift due to localized thermal gradients within the laser rod(s), Trimedyne’s engineers decided to capture and reroute the energy that overfilled the Fiber Aperture....
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...