architecture - engineering - construction

Vision Control For Laser Radiation Safety in Healthcare

Jul 24, 2024

Powerful lasers are often used in healthcare facilities for diagnostic, cosmetic, preventative, and therapeutic applications such as surgery, but their use presents some risk to both medical professionals and patients.

That’s because most lasers used in healthcare applications are classified as Class 4 lasers, the most serious hazard classification on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s one-to-four hazard scale.

Class 4 laser radiation has a range of potential risks, including:

Serious eye injuries from either reflected or direct beams.
Skin burns from direct contact with surgical lasers.
Respiratory issues from laser-generated airborne contaminants (LGAC).

In healthcare institutions, provisions need to be made for the protection of the adjacent rooms/corridors that share a fenestrated partition with a room that houses a laser, from a laser beam that may escape by accident.

Unicel Architectural’s Vision Control® and Vision Control® Mini louvered insulating glass units with advanced louvered glazing technology can eliminate these threats because Vision Control’s louvers defend against the laser passing through the glass.

The interlocking louvers must be in the fully closed position, and flat aluminum plates or tall glass stops must be installed on the vertical glass edges to stop any potential laser light leakage.

Made of extruded aluminum, Vision Control’s louvers naturally block laser without the need for laser protective acrylics. As such, Vision Control® has been tested per IEC 60825 against the laser types operating in pulsed or continuous mode and up to 100W beam intensity (ranging from 353 nm to 10.6 um):