Surgery Using A Sunlight Scalpel

Makarand writes "Research conducted by Israeli doctors has shown that it is possible to use concentrated sunlight instead of lasers to perform surgery, providing a safe and low cost alternative to laser treatment. In their experiments sunlight was transported into the operating room from outside using a system of optical fibers. The concentrated rays - containing several watts of energy - were then used in the experimental surgery conducted on rats." Here is Wired's similar story.

Comments

Are the lasers a significant cost?

[TheLink]

Just curious - are the lasers a significant cost or are they outweighed by the costs of the people controling and maintaining the laser, and the systems involved in assisting the control (intensity, focus, width etc). Would a consistent light beam be necessary for surgery and if it is, would maintaining the consistency of a sunlight beam be cheaper?

Personally I believe this is just a "party trick".

If you don't have access to a laser, are there compelling reasons to pick the sunlight system over a scalpel system?

Re:Are the lasers a significant cost?

[Indomitus]

The Wired article listed the laser machines at $10,000 and the sunlight machine at $1,000. The sunlight machines are new and so I'd imagine the prices will drop as more of them are sold so the price difference will only get more in favor of the sunlight machine.

I'm not a doctor but I believe there are many surgeries that are difficult/impossible to do with scalpel instead of a laser (many cancer removals for example). For poor areas (many of which happen to be in sunlight rich areas) this is a good way to get those surgeries done without having to buy the laser system.