Semiconductor-based lasers in medicine

Summary form only received as follows: Diode-pumped lasers and direct diodes have enabled a new level of efficacy in the treatment of tumors, skin lesions, diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, age-related macular degeneration, and hair removal. CW-based frequency conversion enables tunable laser output for selective ablation and coagulation in a single surgical laser for speciality surgery. Breakthroughs in understanding the underlying mechanism in laser/tissue interactions have led to new diagnostic techniques which allow real time visualization of the healing response. New brightness enhancing techniques have enabled direct diodes to replace CO/sub 2/ lasers in certain markets, and have greatly improved both fundamental laser and wavelength conversion efficiency of diode-pumped lasers.