Optical delivery system for painless laser dentistry

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The purpose of this research is development of optical delivery systems for dentistry which enables painless dental treatment. The system utilizes Er : YAG laser as the light source and hollow waveguides as the beam delivery medium. In this research, in addition to flexible waveguides, fixedbent waveguides, visible light delivery systems, and beam launching couplers are studied for development of total laser systems. The hollow waveguides that is the basis of this research deliver high-powered, infrared laser light and the waveguides are robust and stable for long term.The following is the main result of this research :1.Loss reduction of hollow glass waveguides for Er : YAG laser lightHollow glass waveguides are fabricated by a liquid-phase deposition technique using mirror plating method and polymer liquid coating method. The waveguides consist of a silica capillary tube, a silver layr on the inside of the tube, and a polyimide thin film on the further inside of the silver layr. The waveguides withstand more tna 100mJ of input energy and also has a low transmission loss less than 0.3dB/m.2.Development of additional devices fro hollow wveguidesA lensed-taper, launching coupler for hollow waveguides is newly proposed and developed. The coupler enhance the coupling between the input laser beam and the hollow waveguides. In addition, a beam homogenizer for hollow waveguides is develped by utilizing a silver-halide, infrared fiber.3.Biological test of the beam delivery system for Er : YAG laserUnder the corroboration with a manufacturer of dental systems, biological tests using a polyimidecoated, hollow glass waveguide were performed and obtained a good result of painless treatment.