CC2404 Applied Physics and Instrumentation in Health Care

Problems Unit 11 (2009)

1. (a) State three characteristics of laser which make the laser different from the
conventional light.

• pure color,
• temporal coherence,
• directionality.

(b) Explain photocoagulation in laser treatment.

Laser heating above 50 oC but below 100oC induces disordering of
proteins and other bio-molecules. This process is called photocoagulation.

(c) What is the intensity required for the process photovaporization?

〉 100 W/cm2

(d) State two conditions for the photovaporization.

1. the tissue must be heated quickly to above the boiling point of the water, this
require very high intensity lasers,
2. a very short exposure time T , so no time for heat to flow away while
E

delivering enough energy,

(e) What is the different between photo-vaporization and photochemical ablation?

In photo-vaporization, water within the tissues boils and evaporates.

In photochemical ablation, chemical bonds can be broken without causing local
heating.

2. What is the energy difference in eV between the excited energy state and ground
state of a ruby laser with wavelength 694 nm?
6.63 ⋅ 10 −34 × 3 ⋅ 10 8 2.87 ⋅ 10 −19 J
∆E = hc / λ = = 2 .87 ⋅ 10 −19
J = = 1.8eV
694 ⋅10 −9 1.6 ⋅ 10 −19 J / eV
3. Compute the intensities of an argon laser of wavelength 512 nm: (a)
photocoagulation of the retina using 500 µ m diameter spot and laser power of 200
milliwatts (mW), (b) photo-vaporization of opacities within eye using 50 µ m
diameter spots and laser power settings of 2 Watts (W). (c) Calculate the number of
photons emitted per second in (b). (d) Calculate the laser fluence in (b) for an
exposure time of 5 s.
P 0.2W
(a) I = A = = 102W / cm 2
3.14 * ( 250 ⋅10 −4 cm ) 2

P 2W
(b) I = A = −4
= 1.02 ×10 5 W / cm 2
3.14 * ( 25 ⋅10 cm ) 2

6.63 ⋅ 10 −34 × 3 ⋅ 10 8
(c) photon energy = E = hc / λ = −9
= 3.88 ⋅ 10 −19 J
512 ⋅ 10
2J
number of photon per second N = = 5.15 ⋅10 18
3.88 ⋅ 10 −19 J
(d) laser fluence = I x TE= 1.02 x 10 5 W/cm2 x 5s = 5.1 x 10 5 J/cm2

4. A KrF excimer laser operates in pulse mode, with energy of 300milliJoules

(mJ) per pulse and the pulse rate is 5 Hz. Each pulse lasts for 1 nanosecond (ns). The
laser beam is focused on a spot of diameter 1 mm. (a) Calculate the instantaneous
power output during each pulse. (b) What is the average power of the laser?
E pulse 0.3 J
(a) Pi = = −9
= 3 ⋅10 8 W
tw 10 s

E pulse
(b) Pave = = E pulse × R = 0.3 × 5 = 1.5W
T