(Joined laboratory with St Elisabeth´s Cancer Hospital in Bratislava)
Head:
prof. MUDr. Peter Mĺkvy, CSc.
Scope of the Laboratory:
Department of Laser Medicine was established in cooperation between International Laser Center and St Elisabeth Oncological Hospital. The department is focused on the treatment and diagnosis of gastrointestinal tumors and serves as a consulting centre and closely cooperates with 9 main district gastroenterologists and numerous gastroenterologists in Slovakia. The main scientific work is oriented on the clinical applications of optical diagnostics and laser therapy techniques in a treatment of oncologic disease.
Research activities:
Department of Laser Medicine was the first clinical facility in Slovakia that brings the photodynamic therapy into clinical praxis and successfully applied this therapeutic approach in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment that uses a combination of a light-activated drug (photosensitizes) and laser light to selectively destroy tumor tissue sparing the non-affected tissue area. The treatment of internal organs as esophagus or recta is achieved through the use of endoscopes to deliver light to irradiate the target pathological tissue.
Beside clinical treatments, the department is interested also in research, mainly in the investigation of the mechanism of photosensitizes selective distribution in tumor tissue and the application of this selectivity in fluorescence diagnostics of cancer.