Aura of technology and the cutting edge: a history of lasers in neurosurgery

In this historical review the authors examine the important developments that have led to the availability of laser energy to neurosurgeons as a unique and sometimes invaluable tool. They review the physical science behind the function of lasers, as well as how and when various lasers based on different lasing mediums were discovered. They also follow the close association between advances in laser technology and their application in biomedicine, from early laboratory experiments to the first clinical experiences. Because opinions on the appropriate role of lasers in neurosurgery vary widely, the historical basis for some of these views is explored. Initial enthusiasm for a technology that appears to have innate advantages for safe resections has often given way to the strict limitations and demands of the neurosurgical operating theater. However, numerous creative solutions to improve laser delivery, power, safety, and ergonomics demonstrate the important role that technological advances in related scientific fields continue to offer neurosurgery. Benefiting from the most recent developments in materials science, current CO2 laser delivery systems provide a useful addition to the neurosurgical armamentarium when applied in the correct circumstances and reflect the important historical advances that come about from the interplay between neurosurgery and technology. (DOI: 10.3171/2009.6.FOCUS09125)