Optimal Laser Wavelength and Power for Insect Elimination on Skin Without Harm

[Bilan]

What would be the ideal wavelength and power of a laser to kill an insect on human skin without burning the skin ?

 

[DaveC426913]

I think the characteristics of the laser are almost inconsequential. If you can manage to target an insect on the skin, you can pretty easily hit it with a pulse that's so short it will fry the bug without any damage to the skin.

Consider, all you have to do is disable a wing or other body part, which is on the order of nanolitres of fluid. And patch of skin has many orders of magnitude more heat absorbency than that.

I think your challenges will be more in the area of targeting and safety. (How will you prevent eye damage?)

 

[berkeman]

Thread is closed temporarily for Moderation.

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF.

What would be the ideal wavelength and power of a laser to kill an insect on human skin without burning the skin ?

There are several problems with this idea. First, it may not be possible to find some ideal wavelength that affects the insect much faster and easier than human skin.

But the bigger problem is that lasers can be very dangerous to our eyesight, and lasers that have any power at all need to be managed to minimize/eliminate that danger. You can't just have an instrument on the wall of your home that will detect insects and shoot bursts of laser light at them to disable/kill them. It is way too easy in such a situation for the laser light to make it into a person's eye either directly or via a reflection (like off of a watch or piece of jewelry). In fact, there are regulatory standards for the safety measures that must be taken when working around different strengths of lasers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_safety

So since there is a lot of danger involved in the idea and the discussion, this thread will need to remain closed. Keep thinking of creative ideas, though, since your ideas will get better and better the more of them you have. Just be sure to consider things like safety and practicality when doing your brainstorming.

EDIT/ADD -- If you have any questions about laser safety standards or about your idea, please feel free to send me a Personal Message (PM) by clicking on my avatar twice and "Start a Conversation".