Patent ID: 8460280

Claim:
A handpiece for generating radiation to treat tissue comprising: a housing having a mounting member located at a delivery end thereof; an elongated flashlamp mounted within the housing; an elongated, cylindrical optical waveguide having a circular cross section and being formed from sapphire and supported within said mounting member, wherein the longitudinal axis of the waveguide is oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the flashlamp, said waveguide having a proximal end located within the housing and spaced from the flashlamp and a distal end projecting beyond the end of the mounting member of the housing; an optical reflector mounted within the housing, said optical reflector being aligned with the flashlamp and positioned between the flashlamp and the waveguide, wherein optical radiation emitted from the flashlamp is directed by the optical reflector into the proximal end of the waveguide, wherein said radiation is totally internally reflected within the waveguide and is emitted out of the distal end thereof; and a cooling element thermally coupled to the mounting member and wherein the mounting member includes four planar walls oriented so that the planar surfaces thereof abut the cylindrical surface of the waveguide so as to create only line contacts with the outer surface of the waveguide extending parallel to the longitudinal axis along the length thereof so that total internal reflection losses are minimized.