Cut Curiously Precise Holes With Femto-Lasers

paymenow points out "this story at Science News Online about femto-lasers and how their novel 'cutting physics' allows much more precision than previous lasers. The technology is now finding applications in various industries including, biotech, automotive and laser eye surgery."

Comments

Cool use for diabetics and hospitals

[phamlen]

According to the article, the scientist demonstrated that the laser could cut his hand without causing pain!

Heck, if they could make it cheap enough, that would be great in hospitals. Can you imagine if patients didn't need to be constantly pricked for blood?

-Peter

Re:Cool use for diabetics and hospitals

[GigsVT]

There is sort of an inherent problem with that. If the hole is too small to even hit any nerve endings, it's probably too small to let blood cells through.

As it is, when my late grandmother was getting up in years, we had to prick her like three times with the heavy setting on the lanclet just to get blood.

No sick jokes, I know you are comtemplating them! :)

Re:Can this ever be cheap?

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Um ... according to the article, it's already in use for many applications: precise machining, removing cheap defects, LASIK surgery. If you're asking, "When can I get a femtosecond laser at home to carve cool designs on my cat," that might be a different story.