Glass waveguides with artificially laser placed scattering centers improve the applicability for medical applications

Abstract

Objective: Currently applied medical wave guides in medical therapy, e.g. laser induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT) use a so-called diffuser attached at the distal end. These manually fabricated diffusers are filled with scattering particles embedded in a polymer matrix and are expensive and not very reproducible. The objective is to induce scattering centers directly by utilizing ultra-short laser pulse excitation and selective material reaction inside a quartz waveguide. The laser based processing method allows an integrated diffuser production saving costs and increasing reliability. Furthermore, it is expected that the direction and intensity of the deflected laser light can be strongly influenced by the design and distribution of the scattering centers, creating more selective therapeutic approaches.