By Patricia Daukantas

No one is immune from the possibility of heart disease. A team of scientists working in Japan has demonstrated a femtosecond laser technique that could help medical researchers test anti-fibrillation medicines on heart cells in the laboratory.

The group at Osaka University has used high-power 780-nm laser pulses to force heart tissue samples to change their beating frequency. This “optical pacemaker,” reported in Optics Express, would not work outside of the laboratory because of long-term complications, but it could test new drugs that might eventually lessen the need for pacemakers.

Read more about the research on OSA's Web site and check out the full Optics Express article here.

2008-05 May, Biomedical optics biomedical optics