Developing countries have some good news for those who need laser treatment but can't afford the high cost of such treatment. Physicists of Ben-Gurion University in Beersheva, israel have foind out an effective alternative to medical laser treatment by using the sun light for destroyng tumours.
The experiment was done on a parabolic mirror of 20 centimeters in Diameter. A sun tracker similary to a solat panel was used to keep the parabolic mirror facing the sun. Just below the focal point of the dish, a flat mirror was placed to reflect the concentrated light onto the tip of an optical fibre. The fibre, which could be upto 100 meters long, linked the dish to the operating room. If the surgery needed more power, then a funnel-shaped extension could be fixed the roof-top end at the tip of the fibre to gather more light rays from the flat mirror to the operating room. The light intensity, which is increased by using a specially shaped optical fibre tip enables all rays to converge on a small area.
The physicists, Jeffery and Daniel Feaerman say that if a tissue does not need to be cut, then what is needed is to make it absorb high levels of radiation. They propose that intense sun light could be used as a therapy for treating skin tumours and diseases, tissued welding and angioplasty, as it would be powerful enough destroy plaque in the arteries.
The laser's medical applications usually deliver light of densities of upto 100 watts per square millimetre. But Gordon and Daniel's model can delivery between 30 to 70 watts per square milimetre. It is proved to be an economically viable alternative especially in developing countries, since laser treatment costs around 12000 dollars. Besides solar energy is abundant especially in tropical climates for almost half the days of the year and for about 7 to 10 hours a day.
According to Gorden McVie of the Cancer Research Campaign, " This sound like a great idea for places where you can't guarantee electricity. We were great at inventing machines that need depandable power sources, but you can't always get those in places like Africa".