Percutaneous full endoscopic foraminotomy for treatment of cervical spinal nerve compression in horses using a uniportal approach: Feasibility study.

Background: Cervical spinal nerve insult can be a sequel of osteoarthropathy in horses due to enlargement of the articular processes (AP).

Objectives: To describe the percutaneous endoscopic cervical foraminotomy procedure in horses.

Study Design: Ex vivo experimental study and clinical case report.

AOSpine Consensus Paper on Nomenclature for Working-Channel Endoscopic Spinal Procedures.

Study Design: International consensus paper on a unified nomenclature for full-endoscopic spine surgery.

Objectives: Minimally invasive endoscopic spinal procedures have undergone rapid development during the past decade. Evolution of working-channel endoscopes and surgical instruments as well as innovation in surgical techniques have expanded the types of spinal pathology that can be addressed.

Introduction: ECOC 2012 in Amsterdam.

We introduce the Optics Express special issue from the 38th European Conference on Optical Communication and Exhibition (ECOC). A total of 134 expanded papers from ECOC 2012 are included in this special issue.

Direct writing of microlenses in polycarbonate with excimer laser ablation.

A method for fabricating microlenses in polycarbonate material is reported. Using a direct-write technique based on scanning excimer laser ablation with a circular beam, we can etch an arbitrary shape in the polymer material. The beam is obtained by imaging a circular aperture onto the polymer surface, and scanning is realized by the translation stage carrying the sample, which makes successive contours with well-chosen diameters and scan velocities.