Is the use of a Photocoagulator unsuitable for SLT?
If low energy is the key to preventing tissue damage, why not simply turn down the power on a standard continuous wave (cw) laser and achieve the same result. While the power can be reduced, the shortest pulse width for most laser photocoagulators is .01 seconds, compared to the 3 x 10-9 seconds for the SLT laser. The work of Jim Wise, M.D., (click here for Wise article PDF) who developed ALT, showed that to obtain a reliable pressure lowering effect it was necessary to utilize a high level of power and a small spot size. Normal parameters for ALT are 800 milliwatts for 0.1 seconds resulting in 80 millijoules being delivered in a 50 micron spot. This compares to typically less than 1 millijoule in a 400 micron spot for SLT. Simply turning down the power and reducing the exposure time on a photocoagulator results in no pressure lowering effect.
