Interaction between Laser Radiation and Biological Systems

Laser application in biology and medicine is an interdisciplinary field, requiring knowledge in laser-physics and -technology, as well as physical chemistry and biochemistry on the one side and biology as well as the theoretical medical subjects, particularly physiology and histology on the other. Though progress in such fields is usually brought about through a close cooperation among experts of the various subjects involved, it is essential that both, those who plan to do research in the field and those who merely want to apply the developed new methods in their own special field have a minimum knowledge of the basic laws and concept of the other subjects. In its first part this introductory chapter will treat the fundamental structure of matter with special reference to organic and living systems as well as the properties of electromagnetic radiation, particularly in the wavelength range from the middle UV (λ ≥ 200 nm) through the visible into the middle infrared at about 10 μm. In the second part the interaction processes between this electromagnetic radiation and biological systems will be discussed as well as some of the basic reactions of biologic systems to such interactions.