| Without glasses, the world is nothing but a blur for many people. They struggle to distinguish faces, work out what’s happening on the TV or read signs. In the UK alone, millions of people have sight problems. But more and more of them are throwing away their glasses in favour of laser surgery.
Excimer lasers have revolutionised eye surgery. They are a fast, effective, highly precise way of treating common eye disorders such as distorted vision or far and near-sightedness.
An ultraviolet light beam is used to vaporise unwanted tissue. Because these pulsed gas lasers work with a “cold” beam, they do not heat or damage the surrounding tissue. The procedure takes only a few minutes and patients can resume their normal lives after a few days with a new-found level of freedom.
Gas plays an important role in the effectiveness of Excimer lasers, which are also used in the manufacture of computer chips and flatscreens, for example.
Typically, the laser gas consists of 0.05-0.3% halogen (fluorine or hydrogen chloride), 1-10% noble gas (krypton, xenon or argon) and 90-99% buffer gas (helium or neon). Any impurities in these gases impede the laser performance by lowering the output power and disturbing the uniformity of the electrical discharge.
WaveLight AG develops, manufactures and markets technologically innovative and excellently designed laser systems for a wide treatment spectrum in the fields of medicine, ophthalmology in particular.
WaveLight primarily uses gases supplied by Linde Gas to operate and calibrate its Excimer lasers. As Katrin Teigeler, Director Global Marketing, explains: “As one of the few vendors with FDA approval, WaveLight is very exacting about quality standards. Linde is one of the few suppliers that satisfies our composition and purity specifications. In addition, Linde’s worldwide logistics network means that they can deliver directly to our end customers, which saves us considerable time and effort. All in all, Linde is the best fit for our business model.” |
knowhow 2/2006 complete issue (PDF 2,08 MB)
