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Given a block of matter, for example human tissue, is it possible to cut inside the block without damaging anything else?

Going by what I was taught at school, light has many properties by which it can be characterized, wave length probably being the most known one.

Typical interactions of light and matter are due: photoelectric effect (used for X-Rays screening in medicine), Compton scattering or pair production.

I also know that photons are able to interact with another, possible affecting their wave length.

Would it thus be possible to pinpoint the location of a certain point inside a tissue by possible multiple laser sources, make the lasers interact and thus make it interact with the tissue at this point?

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    $\begingroup$ Search for proton therapy/hadron therapy. $\endgroup$
    – Nemo
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 10:41
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    $\begingroup$ What you are describing is two-photon absorption or other nonlinear processes that are indeed used to reduce the interaction volume in for example superresolution microscopy, but also in applications like cutting and 3D printing. $\endgroup$
    – A. P.
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 10:44
  • $\begingroup$ It looks to me both methods are only used in regards of treating cancer. Why is that? How does it differ from eye surgery to for example correct shortsightedness / farsightedness? $\endgroup$
    – Imago
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 10:54
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    $\begingroup$ @Imago For laser ablation, which is used for example for eye surgeries, the damage done to the surrounding tissue is minimized by using extremely short pulses, so that the irradiated tissue evaporates and carries the heat almost completely away. Whereas if you work inside of human tissue the heat is transported to the surrounding and causes damage there as well. That's why this is avoided in most of the cases, but it is a possibility to burn cancer within the tissue. $\endgroup$
    – A. P.
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 12:28

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