"MEGALASE" - Multi-mEGAwatt peak power ultrafast fibre LASEr for ophthalmic surgery

Ultra-short pulse (Femtosecond) laser technology is becoming increasingly common within
ophthalmic surgery, with all-laser LASIK eye surgery now becoming a routine procedure,
available at high street opticians. However, high capital cost and limitations in performance
of traditional femtosecond laser technology are slowing down the uptake of the technology,
which still only has approximately 20% of the global market for LASIK procedures. The cost
and performance barriers become even greater for non-elective procedures such as Cataract,
especially within developing nations where clinics cannot afford high-cost instrumentation.
A commercially viable, compact, cost-effective femtosecond laser technology is required to
enable widespread use of laser-surgery in ophthalmology. MEGALASE will address this
need by developing a prototype femtosecond laser delivering in excess of 20 Megawatts of
optical peak power within pulses shorter than 500 Femtoseconds.
MEGALASE is inspired by several Fianium patent applications for state of art ultrashort
pulse fibre amplifier technology. The novel amplifier design delivers output power in a
purely single spatial mode, offering the quality of beam that is essential for ophthalmic
surgery applications.
Delivering more than 10 micro-Joules of pulse energy, the laser system output has potential
application within all existing elective refractive surgery procedures as well emerging
procedures including cataract repair.
Successful delivery of the prototypes will present a fantastic opportunity to further exploit the
rapidly expanding global market for industrial and scientific laser technology to the benefit of
UK companies and the wider UK economy.