Hercules Laser

Hercules Laser
Reported November 29, 2004

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News)–Cancer is the second leading cause of death in this country behind heart disease. There are many new ways to treat it, but doctors say we’re a long way from a cure. But a powerful laser could one day put an end to cancer.

Behind this door sits a giant laser called Hercules. It’s named after the powerful Greek hero for good reason.

“The pulse lasts about 30 millionths of a billionths of a second, so you take a lot of energy, press in a short amount of time in a very small spot size, it makes it an extremely powerful laser,” says Dale Litzenberg, Ph.D., a research investigator at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Doctors say the intensity of the sun beating down on you on a hot summer day is nothing compared to this laser’s power.

“Basically, billion, billion, billion times higher than that. So intensity like that you can only imagine in very rare astrophysical events like explosions of stars.” says Victor Yanovsky, Ph.D., a research scientist also from University of Michigan

Yanovsky says Hercules could revolutionize the way cancer is treated and diagnosed. It could even replace that old standard — the X-ray. “If you produce the X-ray source with the laser beam, then the size of the source could be very small so in practical, it means that the cancer can be detected earlier.”

The technology is advancing. As it does, cancer researchers across the country say they’re ready and waiting for this new revolution.

Researchers say they are still about five years away from the day that Hercules can be used in human clinical trials. They say it has the potential to treat most kinds of cancer.

 If you would like more information, please contact:

 Laura Bailey
University of Michigan
412 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(734) 647-1848
baileylm@umich.edu