Commentary

Lasers and Raman spectroscopy assist with cancer surgery

Sept. 16, 2015

What if a surgeon could tell in real-time if an area is cancerous or not?

As a laser analyst I’m always on the lookout for interesting new laser applications, especially if an application can make an important difference in some way. Seldom do I come across a laser application like this because this is a very high bar to meet. Yet recently I have come across such an application, while not entirely new, is moving toward commercialization quite nicely.

This application helps to solve a problem surgeons have when performing cancer surgery; how do you tell where the cancer ends and where the healthy tissue starts? According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) 1.658 million people in the US will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and 589,430 will die from it. For many types of cancer, surgery is the main or only option. Surgeons can use diagnostic tests to determine approximately …

CLICK HERE to read the full blog by Strategies Unlimited analyst Allen Nogee.

Laser Focus World's take:

Raman spectroscopy has long proven able to distinguish diseased tissue from healthy tissue, but applying it intraoperatively in this way is new and exciting. Using an infrared laser probe with Raman spectroscopy to determine if cancer is present opens the way for more powerful lasers to perform the actual surgery.

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About the Author

Allen Nogee | President, Laser Markets Research

Allen Nogee has over 30 years' experience in the electronics and technology industry including almost 20 years in technology market research. He has held design-engineering positions at MCI Communications, GTE, and General Electric, and senior research positions at In-Stat, NPD Group, and Strategies Unlimited.

Nogee has become a well-known and respected analyst in the area of lasers and laser applications, with his research and forecasts appearing in publications such as Laser Focus World, Industrial Laser Solutions, Optics.org, and Laser Institute of America. He has also been invited to speak at conferences such as the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), Laser Focus World's Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar, the European Photonics Industry Consortium Executive Laser Meeting, and SPIE Photonics West.

Nogee has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Master's of Business Administration from Arizona State University.