Ultrashort-Pulse Lasers Kill Bacterial Superbugs, Spores

upstart writes:

Ultrashort-pulse lasers kill bacterial superbugs, spores:

Life-threatening bacteria are becoming ever more resistant to antibiotics, making the search for alternatives to antibiotics an increasingly urgent challenge. For certain applications, one alternative may be a special type of laser.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that lasers that emit ultrashort pulses of light can kill multidrug-resistant bacteria and hardy bacterial spores. The findings, available online in the Journal of Biophotonics, open up the possibility of using such lasers to destroy bacteria that are hard to kill by other means. The researchers previously have shown that such lasers don't damage human cells, making it possible to envision using the lasers to sterilize wounds or disinfect blood products.

"The ultrashort-pulse laser technology uniquely inactivates pathogens while preserving human proteins and cells," said first author Shaw-Wei (David) Tsen, MD, PhD, an instructor of radiology at Washington University's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR). "Imagine if, prior to closing a surgical wound, we could scan a laser beam across the site and further reduce the chances of infection. I can see this technology being used soon to disinfect biological products in vitro, and even to treat bloodstream infections in the future by putting patients on dialysis and passing the blood through a laser treatment device."

Read more of this story at SoylentNews.