Flexible ureteroscopic treatment of kidney stones: How do the new laser systems change our concepts?

Objective: Flexible ureteroscopy (fURS) has become a widely accepted and effective technique for treating kidney stones. With the development of new laser systems, the fURS approach has evolved significantly. This literature review aims to examine the current state of knowledge on fURS treatment of kidney stones, with a particular focus on the impact of the latest laser technologies on clinical outcomes and patient safety.Methods: We conducted a search of the PubMed/PMC, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, Embase (Ovid), and Cochrane Databases for all randomized controlled trial articles on laser lithotripsy in September 2023 without time restriction.Results: We found a total of 22 relevant pieces of literature. Holmium laser has been used for intracavitary laser lithotripsy for nearly 30 years and has become the golden standard for the treatment of urinary stones. However, the existing holmium laser cannot completely powder the stone, and the retropulsion of the stone after the laser emission and the thermal damage to the tissue have caused many problems for clinicians. The introduction of thulium fiber laser and Moses technology brings highly efficient dusting lithotripsy effect through laser innovation, limiting pulse energy and broadening pulse frequency.Conclusion: While the holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser remains the primary choice for endoscopic laser lithotripsy, recent technological advancements hint at a potential new gold standard. Parameter range, retropulsion effect, laser fiber adaptability, and overall system performance demand comprehensive attention. The ablation efficacy of high-pulse-frequency devices relies on precise targeting, which may pose practical challenges.

Integrated, reliable laser system for an ^(87)Rb cold atom fountain clock

We designed, assembled, and tested a reliable laser system for ^(87)Rb cold atom fountain clocks. The laser system is divided into four modules according to function, which are convenient for installing, adjusting, maintaining, and replacing of the modules. In each functional module, all optical components are fixed on a baseplate with glue and screws, ensuring the system's structural stability. Mechanical stability was verified in a 6.11g RMS randomvibration test, where the change in output power before and after vibration was less than 5%. Thermal stability was realized by optimizing of the structure and appropriate selection of component materials of the modules through thermal simulation. In the laser splitting and output module, the change in laser power was less than 20% for each fiber in thermal cycles from 5℃ to 43℃. Finally,the functionality of the laser system was verified for a rubidium fountain clock.

3D cavity detection technique and its application based on cavity auto scanning laser system

Ground constructions and mines are severely threatened by ones. Safe and precise cavity detection is vital for reasonable cavity underground cavities especially those unsafe or inaccessible evaluation and disposal. The conventional cavity detection methods and their limitation were analyzed. Those methods cannot form 3D model of underground cavity which is used for instructing the cavity disposal; and their precisions in detection are always greatly affected by the geological circumstance. The importance of 3D cavity detection in metal mine for safe exploitation was pointed out; and the 3D cavity laser detection method and its principle were introduced. A cavity auto scanning laser system was recommended to actualize the cavity 3D detection after comparing with the other laser detection systems. Four boreholes were chosen to verify the validity of the cavity auto scanning laser system. The results show that the cavity auto scanning laser system is very suitable for underground 3D cavity detection, especially for those inaccessible ones.

Preference of Chaotic Synchronization in a Coupled Laser System

In a coupled laser system, the dynamics of the receiving laser is investigated when two separate transmitting lasers are injected into the receiving laser with different coupling strengths. It is shown that the phenomenon of preference of chaotic synchronization appears under appropriate coupling conditions. The receiving laser will entrain the pulses of either one or both transmitting lasers when the coupling is strong while it keeps its own dynamics when the coupling is weak.

A new method for measuring the pulse-front distortion of arbitrary shapes in high-power ultrashort laser systems

We present a new method that can be used to calculate pulse-front distortion by measuring the spectral interference of two point-diffraction fields in their overlapped district. We demonstrate, for the first time, the measurement of the pulse-front distortion of the pulse from a complex multi-pass amplification system, which exists in almost all high-power laser systems, and obtain the irregular pulse-front distribution. The method presented does not need any reference light or assumption about the pulse-front distribution, and has an accuracy of several femtoseconds.

A new feat of powerful laser system

CAS physicists have recently developed an intense femtosecond (fs) laser system with a peak output

High power high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd:YAG oscillator-amplifier laser system

This paper demonstrated a high power and high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd：YAG master oscillator-power amplifier laser system. A thermally near-unstable resonator with four-rod birefringence compensation fiat-fiat cavity was adopted as the master oscillator. A solid etalon was inserted in the unidirectional ring resonator to compress the laser linewidth. Under a repetition rate of 500 Hz and pulse width of 160 μs, the master oscillator delivers an average output power of 16.8 W at 1319 nm with linear polarisation, beam quality factor M^2=1.16 and linewidth of 3.2 GHz. A double-pass power amplifier with two amplifier stages was employed for higher power scaling and the output power was amplified to be 25.9 W with M^2 = 1.43.

Surface effects of hybrid vibration-assisted femtosecond laser system for micro-hole drilling of copper substrate

The ultrafast laser based hybrid machining system was studied and a novel approach was demonstrated to improve laser machining quality on metals by vibrating the optical objective lens with a low frequency (500 Hz) and various displacements (0-16.5 μm) during a femtosecond laser machining process.The laser used in this experiment is an amplified Ti:sapphire femtosecond (10-15 s) laser system that generates 100 femtosecond pulses having an energy of 3.5 mJ/pulse with a 5 kHz repetition rate at a central wavelength of 790 nm.It is found that both the wall surface finish of the machined structures and the aspect ratio obtained using the frequency vibration assisted laser machining are improved compared with those derived via laser machining without vibration assistance.

An all-solid-state high power quasi-continuous-wave tunable dual-wavelength Ti：sapphire laser system using birefringence filter

This paper describes a tunable dual-wavelength Ti：sapphire laser system with quasi-continuous-wave and high-power outputs. In the design of the laser, it adopts a frequency-doubled Nd：YAG laser as the pumping source, and the birefringence filter as the tuning element. Tunable dual-wavelength outputs with one wavelength range from 700 nm to 756.5 nm, another from 830 nm to 900mn have been demonstrated. With a pump power of 23 W at 532 nm, a repetition rate of 7 kHz and a pulse width of 47.6 ns, an output power of 5.1 W at 744.8 nm and 860.9 nm with a pulse width of 13.2 ns and a line width of 3 nm has been obtained, it indicates an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 22.2%.

All-Solid-State Multi-Wavelength Laser System from 208 to 830 nm

Four-wavelength lasers from near-infrared to deep-ultraviolet range,532,830,415 and 208 nm,have been developed in one all-solid-state laser system.The laser system is pumped by a diode-Q-YLF laser at 532 nm,a Ti:sapphire laser and the nonlinear second-harmonic-generation crystals LBO and BBO are used to generate different wavelengths.Maximum average powers(repetition rate 1 kHz)of 1.1 W at 830 nm,380 mW at 415 nm,and 39 mW at 208 nm are obtained when the pumping power is 3.6 W.The main characteristics of this system are presented.

Time-Delayed Feedback Control in a Single-Mode Laser System

The effects of time-delayed feedback control in a single-mode laser system is investigated.Using the smalltime delay approximation,the analytic expression of the stationary probability distribution function of the laser field isobtained.The mean,normalized variance and skewness of the steady-state laser intensity are calculated.It is found thatthe time-delayed feedback control can suppress the intensity fluctuation of the laser system.The numerical simulationsare in good agreement with the approximate analytic results.

Wavefront Correction of Pettawat Laser System by a Deformable Mirror with 50mm Active Aperture

We firstly propose and demonstrate a new economical approach that can correct the wavefront of the petwatt Ti：sapphire laser system with a beam size of 150mm. By using a deformable mirror with 50mm active aperture in the end of the laser, the focal spot size is reduced effectively. The experimental results show that the new approach is simple, less-expensive and valid from a technical and economical point. This technique could be applied to correct the wavefront of a large optical beam with a smaller aperture deformable mirror.

Profitability analysis of a femtosecond laser system for cataract surgery using a fuzzy logic approach

AIM：To define the financial and management conditions required to introduce a femtosecond laser system for cataract surgery in a clinic using a fuzzy logic approach.METHODS：In the simulation performed in the current study,the costs associated to the acquisition and use of a commercially available femtosecond laser platform for cataract surgery（VICTUS,TECHNOLAS Perfect Vision GmbH,Bausch ＆ Lomb,Munich,Germany） during a period of 5y were considered.A sensitivity analysis was performed considering such costs and the countable amortization of the system during this 5y period.Furthermore,a fuzzy logic analysis was used to obtain an estimation of the money income associated to each femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery（G）. RESULTS：According to the sensitivity analysis,the femtosecond laser system under evaluation can be profitable if 1400 cataract surgeries are performed per year and if each surgery can be invoiced more than $500.In contrast,the fuzzy logic analysis confirmed that the patient had to pay more per surgery,between $661.8 and $667.4 per surgery,without considering the cost of the intraocular lens（IOL）.CONCLUSION：A profitability of femtosecond laser systems for cataract surgery can be obtained after a detailed financial analysis,especially in those centers with large volumes of patients.The cost of the surgery for patients should be adapted to the real flow of patients with the ability of paying a reasonable range of cost.

Analysis of gain distribution in cladding-pumped thulium-doped fiber laser and optical feedback inhibition problem in fiber-bulk laser system

The steady-state gain distribution in cladding pumped thulium-doped fiber laser（TDFL） is analytically and numerically solved based on the rate equations including loss coefficients and cross relaxation effect. With the gain curve, a problem, which is named optical feedback inhibition（OFI） and always occurs in tandem TDFL-Ho：YAG laser system, is analyzed quantitatively. The actual characteristics of output spectra and power basically prove the conclusion of theoretical analysis. Then a simple mirror-deflected L-shaped cavity is employed to restrain the external feedback and simplify the structure of fiber-bulk Ho：YAG laser. Finally, 25 W of 2097-nm laser power and 51.2% of optical-to-optical conversion efficiency are obtained, and the beam quality factor is less than 1.43 obtained by knife-edge method.

Effect of thermally induced birefringence on high power picosecond azimuthal polarization Nd:YAG laser system

Pulse-burst 1064-nm picosecond azimuthal polarization beam amplification up to an average power of 16.32 W using side-pumped Nd: YAG amplifiers has been demonstrated. The maximum envelop energy as much as 16.32 mJ, corresponding to a power amplification factor of 299.5%. A simple criterion was defined to help estimate the amount of depolarization in Nd:YAG amplifier stages. The degree of depolarization of the beam was 7.1% and the beam quality was measured to be M2= 3.69. The reason for the azimuthal polarization depolarization and beam quality degradation were explained theoretically and experimentally during the amplification process.

Steady-State Analysis of a Two-Mode Laser System with Cross-Correlation Between Real and Imaginary Parts of Quantum Noise

An inhomogeneously broadened two-mode laser system with cross-correlations between the real and imag- inary parts of quantum noise is considered. The Fokker-Planek equation of the system is derived by the phase-locking method. The steady-state probability distribution, the mean light intensity, the normalization autocorrelation function, and cross correlation function are calculated. The results indicate that： （i） The cross-correlation between the real and imaginary parts of quantum noise can cause the stationary probability distribution from one peak structure to two extrema structure when the laser system is operated above threshold; （ii） The cross-correlation between the real and imaginary parts of quantum noise enhance the light intensity fluctuation and decrease the laser output when the laser system is operated below or near threshold; （iii） The effect of the cross-correlation between the real and imaginary parts of quantum noise is very weak on the stationary properties when the laser system is operated far above threshold.

The statistical fluctuation of a single-mode laser system driven by coloured pump noise with signal modulation and the quantum noise with cross-correlation between its real and imaginary parts

Using the linear approximation method, this paper studies the statistical property of a single-mode laser driven by both coloured pump noise with signal modulation and the quantum noise with cross-correlation between its real and imaginary parts, and calculates the steady-state mean normalized intensity fluctuation and intensity correlation time. It analyses the influences of the modulation signal, the net gain coefficient, the noise and its correlation form on the statistical fluctuation of the laser system respectively. It is found that the coloured pump noise modulated by the signal has a great suppressing action on the statistical fluctuation of the laser system; the pump noise self-correlation time and the specific frequency of modulation signal have the result that the statistical fluctuation tends to zero. Furthermore, the ＇colour＇ correlation of pump noise has much influences on the statistical fluctuation of the laser system. Increasing the intensity of pump noise will augment the statistical fluctuation of the laser system, but the intensity of quantum noise and the coefficient of cross-correlation between its real and imaginary parts have less influence on the statistical fluctuation of the laser system. Therefore, from the conclusions of this paper the statistical property can be known and a theoretical basis for steady operation and output of the laser system can be provided.

Simulation study of the two-time intensity correlation function of a two-mode laser system with both pump and quantum noises

This paper investigates the two-time intensity correlation function of a two-mode ring laser system subjected to both pump and quantum noises by stochastic simulation. It finds that the decay rate of the intensity correlation function of one mode gets faster with decreasing values of relevant parameters, i.e., the coupling constant ξ, the cross-correlation coefficient A, the difference of the pump parameters Aa and the pump parameter al; however, its variations get complex in the other mode when relevant parameters are changed. The investigating results also show that the effects of the mode competition on intensity correlation function are obvious.

Stationary properties of a single-mode laser system with non-Gaussian and Gaussian noise

A single-mode laser system with non-Gaussian and Gaussian noise is investigated. The stationary mean value and the normalized variance of the laser intensity are numerically calculated under the condition that the stationary probability distribution function （SPDF） is derived. The SPDF as a function of the laser intensity exhibits a maximum, The maximum becomes smaller with the increase of the correlation intensity or the non-Gaussian parameter, where the later is a measure of the deviation from the Gaussian characteristic. The maximum becomes larger as the correlation time increases. The laser intensity stationary mean value decreases with the increase of the correlation intensity or the non-Gaussian parameter while increases with the correlation time increasing. The laser intensity normalized variance increases with the increase of the correlation intensity or the non-Gaussian parameter while decreases as the correlation time increases.

A 100-TW Ti:Sapphire Laser System at a Repetition Rate of 0.1 Hz

We demonstrate a 100-TW-class femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser running at a repetition rate of 0.1Hz based on a 20TW/10 Hz laser facility (XL-Ⅱ).Pumping the new stage amplifier with a 25J green Nd:glass laser,we successfully improve the laser energy to 3.4J with duration of 29 fs,corresponding to a peak power of 11 7 TW.