Medical technology and health

To test complex brain functions during neurosurgical procedures, surgeons must operate on awake, locally anesthetized patients. This allows surgeons to interact with them and test how their intervention affects brain function. However, opening the skull while the patient is awake is extremely stressful for them psychologically. A new robot-assisted and optically precisely monitored laser procedure developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen is set to enable gentle, vibration-free and virtually silent craniotomies while the patient is awake. The bone tissue of the skull is ablated using short-pulse laser radiation.

Spinal canal stenosis – a bony narrowing of the spinal canal – can be agonizing. If it presses on the spinal cord, it comes to chronic pain and paralysis. Surgical intervention is often the only solution: In Germany alone, 111,000 cases are treated every year. However, since stenosis is close to the spinal cord, bony decompression, in which the constrictions are removed using high-speed milling, is risky. A robot-assisted, optically monitored laser procedure, which is currently in the pre-development stage at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, could help to minimize the risk of such procedures in the future.

A new ultrashort pulse (USP) laser beam source from TRUMPF, designed for industrial use, will significantly expand the range of applications of USP laser processes. The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen will be systematically exploring the potential of this beam source with an average output of 1 kW in the coming months. Among other things, experiments are planned to optimize processes in battery and fuel cell production, toolmaking and semiconductor technology, as well as to test various beam guidance strategies. Many of these pilot applications have their origins in the Fraunhofer internal Cluster of Excellence Advanced Photon Sources (CAPS), to which 21 institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft belong.

Burrs on cut and punched edges of sheet metal increase the risk of injury and can often damage cables and scratch surfaces. For this reason alone, it makes sense to deburr such edges. If this is done by laser, not only can edges be selectively reinforced, but the fatigue strength of the components can be increased and the tendency to forming cracks reduced. The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen will be presenting state-of-the-art laser deburring processes at the EuroBLECH trade fair in Hanover from October 22 to 25, 2024. Interested parties can also find out more about laser polishing of sheet metal at the stand in Hall 27 | D142.

How pharmaceuticals act, how efficient catalysts are and how effective and accurate printing inks function all depend on the size of the nanoparticles they contain. However, there are as of yet no methods for monitoring the particle size distribution during grinding processes. In the EU-funded PAT4Nano project, a consortium from industry and research has spent the last four years looking for practicable approaches for such inline measurements. The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen has developed a promising laser-based method that could soon make such measurements possible.

The “AKL’24 - International Laser Technology Congress” took place in Aachen from April 17 to 19, 2024. For the 14th time, the congress provided a platform for an intensive professional exchange on current technology trends and perspectives in laser technology. In addition to three forums and nine sessions with a total of 82 specialist presentations, the 525 participants from 21 countries had access to a fully booked exhibition with 58 companies and 60 “Laser Technology Live” demonstrations in the laboratories of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT and RWTH Aachen University. Two evening events and the deliberately relaxed schedule on the three days of the congress invited participants to network. In short: AKL’24 was the place to be for the laser community.

Tests on living cell cultures are becoming increasingly important for personalized medicine, drug development and clinical research. The Aachen-based Fraunhofer Institutes for Laser Technology ILT and for Production Technology IPT have developed an AI-assisted high-throughput process that now makes it possible to automatically isolate specific cell types. Using a so-called LIFTOSCOPE, laboratories can localize, identify and analyze dozens of living cells per second in order to transfer them to microtiter plates with laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT). At analytica 2024 in Munich, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will be presenting the innovative process to the public for the first time in Hall A3, Booth 407.

Whether in laser material processing, additive manufacturing and repair processes, laser weed control or the automated design of optical systems: Artificial intelligence has enormous, sometimes disruptive potential in photonics. With around 50 international experts in attendance, the 3rd "AI for Laser Technology Conference" took place at the end of November at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, and clearly showed that the AI-driven transformation is in full swing.