Coursera Spring Sale
40% Off Coursera Plus Annual!
Grab it
Explore the revolutionary applications of laser technology in modern medicine through this final lecture in the 1987 Christmas Lectures series by Professors John Meurig Thomas and David Phillips. Discover how crystalline arrangements naturally occur in living matter, from healthy bones and muscles to disease-related formations in conditions like gout and osteoarthritis, while learning about the scientific challenges of designing replacement human bones for hip operations. Examine how laser light transmitted through optical fibers provides unprecedented insights into life processes and offers treatments for previously incurable conditions, including infrared lasers used as precise cutting tools and ultraviolet lasers for painless tissue ablation without temperature increase. Witness demonstrations of photodynamic therapy (PDT), where red lasers selectively destroy cancerous tissue labeled with specific dyes, alongside other innovative medical applications of light technology that showcase the intersection of crystal science and laser physics in advancing human health.
