BLOOD LASER
ONE OF THE TOP 100 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AWARDS OF 1997 WENT TO A BLOOD
LASER.  NOT SOME SCIFI LASER THAT CAN BRING ON BLOOD 

(SFX: LIGHT SABER NOISES) 

BUT A LASER THAT ACTUALLY USES BLOOD IN IT'S MACHINERY.  THERE'S A GOOD REASON--BY STUDYING THE LIGHT CREATED BY THIS LASER, A DOCTOR CAN TELL IF THE BLOOD IS
HEALTHY OR NOT SAYS BPAUL GOURLEY.

GOURLEY: We've shown that it can accurately size and distinguish normal and
cancerous cells.

GOURLEY IS A PHYSICIST AT SANDIA NATIONAL LABS AND HE WORKED WITH HIS BROTHER
MARK, AN IMMUNOLOGIST TO BUILD THIS HAND HELD LASER.  IT WORKS BECAUSE OF HOW
A LASER IS MADE. NORMAL EVERY DAY LIGHT COMES IN MANY FREQUENCIES, BUT A
LASER TAKES JUST ONE VERY PRECISE FREQUENCY OF LIGHT AND AMPLIFIES IT UNTIL ITS
INCREDIBLY POWERFUL.  THE GOURLEY BROTHERS HAVE ADJUSTEDTHEIR LASER SO THAT AS
THE LIGHT IS BEING AMPLIFIED IT PASSES THROUGH A SAMPLE OF BLOOD.

GOURLEY: The cell acts like a little transparent lens.

AND THAT LENS WILL CHANGE THE FREQUENCY OF THE LIGHT DEPENDING ON THE SIZE
AND SHAPE OF THE BLOOD.

GOURLEY: Just as you can distinguish a piccolo from a tuba, even though they may play
the same tone, . . . each different kind of cell has a differnet size and shape and has
unique optical frequencies that emit from it.

THE LASER CAN ANALYZE 100,000 BLOOD CELLS AND MYABE MORE PER SECOND, WHICH
MAKES IT ONE OF THE FASTEST WAYS AROUND TO DETECT BLOOD DISORDERS.