Abstract

Lasers are an integral part of modern surgery and are routinely used across a variety of different specialties. Some of the most successful applications are in microsurgery, which is concerned with the treatment of minuscule and delicate organs, such as the eyes and the vocal folds. The size of a laser beam can be focused down to a spot size on the scale of micrometers, making lasers an ideal tool for precise tissue cutting. Control of bleeding is another important benefit: Lasers can simultaneously cut tissue and thermally seal blood vessels, thus enabling procedures with less blood loss. The integration of lasers with robotic control represents the next frontier in laser microsurgery.