Low-Level Laser Therapy

Abstract

The development of all available medical laser systems is based on physical hypothesis and experiments. Already in 1917 Einstein hypothesized that accelerated electrons produce electromagnetic beams of a certain wavelength. In the following years, his theories were confirmed in experimental studies. Yet, not until 1960 did Maiman, a young American physicist, construct the first laser device, a ruby laser, which emitted visible light at a wavelength of 694.3 nm. In 1960 and 1961, Goldmann and Campbell used a ruby laser for dermatological and ophthalmologic treatment. However, it had taken many years until the laser became widely accepted for various medical applications. Alongside high-powered lasers that are used in surgery, low-level HeNe lasers and GaAs lasers have also been developed.