Coherent (Santa Clara, CA) has now shipped over 10,000 lasers into ophthalmic applications, including pulsed excimer ultraviolet lasers for LASIK vision correction and continuous-wave (CW) solid-state lasers with green or yellow output for use in photocoagulation to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). The company also notes strong sales performance in other areas of the ophthalmic market, namely lasers for diagnostic applications such as retinal scanning.
The company's excimer lasers are the preferred light source for LASIK because they offer higher beam uniformity than competitive products, a critical parameter in this application, says Matthias Schulze, segment marketing director. In photocoagulation, the company supplies green lasers at the long-used 532 nm wavelength as well as their Genesis lasers at 577 nm, developed specifically to match the wavelength needs of this application, he adds.
And laser trabeculoplasty, a now rarely used ophthalmic procedure, was one of the first commercial laser applications, and the company supplied ion lasers for this use, says Schulze.
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