Using continuous-wave, high power laser diodes for tumor therapy guided by optical coherence tomography

Laser treatment for cancer has become a common solution in clinical. However, in most cases, pulsed lasers are commonly used instead of using continuous-wave (CW) lasers, due to minimized extra damages on the surrounding tissue. In this study, we demonstrated using highpower, CW laser diodes for tumor therapy with guidance of optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is a noninvasive imaging technique, which can provide higher spatial resolutions, and a high imaging speed. Therefore, realtime monitoring with OCT enables to understand the photothermolysis induced by the CW laser diode and the positioning of laser treatment can be accurately determined by OCT. From the results, the proposed method can efficiently remove the tumor tissue without damaging the surrounding tissue and the cost for laser therapy can also be greatly reduced.