Wednesday, August 05, 2009

blast away!

what do cyclops, capt kirk, & ultraman have in common?








yeah, they blasted their enemies with laser. when we were kids, it was a cool to possess such powers & these fictional characters were hero-worshipped week in & week out with our patronage in front of the TV.

well, lasers have come a long way since & their role these days are more beneficial than destructive. remember LASIK? now, it's even used to blast kidney stones & resect prostates.
the flavour of the month seems to be green-light laser..

the machine generating the laser is on the left while the patient(all draped up) is on the right...

because of the intense brightness, special protective glasses need to be worn during its use....

...even for the patient.

the claimed advantage for laser in prostate surgery is less incidence of complications, eg.bleeding, urinary retention, impotence, & a shorter hospital stay. the cost, however, is a different matter altogether.

i wonder if kids will rate laser any less, now that it's mostly used to heal rather than destroy.

12 comments:

Alex Tang said...

who cares, as long as we have something to shoot with :)

doc said...

Alex,

spoken like a true cowboy! *bang!bang!*

iml said...

In keeping with the theme: Going Green! of course.
I suppose in the near future surgeons will be handling laser cutters instead of scalpels and knives

msforty5 said...

depends how one looks at it, laser surgery is meant destroy the bad anyway. how I wish it could have been done for most surgery less suffering...sigh

doc said...

Iml,

you could call them laser cutters or blasters - they're already here!

Jo said...

so, what kind of laser do you handle doc?

doc said...

ms45,

i'm sure human ingenuity will eventually find more uses of laser(hopefully for the better!) in medicine & industry.

doc said...

Jo,

i only watch from a safe distance because my area of expertise(??) does not include using laser.

Unknown said...

on a lighter side,i wish i could be an ultraman, i like the way when he crosses his hand, and there goes the laser.

dont know much about laser light, that's not my area of experise as well. but i believe with the ever advancement of about almost anything, i guess one day even the usage of laser light can be replaced, am i right to say that, doc?

doc said...

Eugene,

people our age must have, at one time long ago, wished we were ultraman - because we could fly, give karate chops & emit laser rays from the hands. but now, the kids all want to be ben 10.

of course, laser will one day be obsolete as new technology emerges. those days, it was cool to have a walkman - now, the minimum is a mp3 player.

Anonymous said...

Saw a dr this morning. his condition seems to b getting worse with headaches n vomitting, coughing from deep inside... dr said bronchitis n bacterial infection n possible case... asked to quarantine

doc said...

Beng,

from what you described, without fever, it's highly unlikely to be H1N1 but mustn't let your guard down. anytime BH has fever or breathing difficulty, go immediately to hosp. in the mean time, continue the medicine that the doctor has given.

if food intake is not good, take plenty of fluids, even 100plus with fruit juice will do just fine till the appetite improves.

all will be well because God loves you & your family.