The "Laser"
I chuckle to myself when I take into consideration lasers. I expect Austin Powers to set air quotes across the word when I say it. I find that numerous people utilize the term as if it had been a marvelous device that may a single thing - including make a scarless incision. It can't. Lasers are a way to apply energy to your spot. All you can change will be the height and width of the location, the length of time the laser is on, along with the color (and thereby the energy) with the laser. That's basically it. (Physicists have a term called fluence that measures how much energy delivered per unit area. Higher fluence = more energy. Don't remember that or people will think you are a geek.)
see this to medical lasers was in 1984. I was a surgery intern and pleased to be watching an instance of hemorrhoids (yes, hemorrhoids) being removed using a laser. The attending physician was proud to show me how his new toy worked. He pointed the hand piece with the laser with a wooden tongue depressor and stepped for the pedal. Sure enough - the laserlight immediately went all the way through the wooden stick. Unfortunately it kept going, showing up in paper drapes since the patients legs. Poof, a smaller fire started. The nurse was totally calm and simply dumped a basin of water around the smoking paper. No harm done, but I remarked that it was not only a simple toy.
So what types of medical lasers are available and what are they used by?
The skin tightening and laser originated at Bell Labs in 1964. It is an efficient laser that emits inside infrared part from the spectrum. The wavelength from the CO2 laser is absorbed by water and therefore heats tissue adequately. It is utilized in facial resurfacing to get rid of wrinkles. By controlling how long the heartbeat lasts and also the pattern of pulses, very precise layers of skin is easy to remove. It is often used which has a computer pattern generator for perfect application of the pulses.
Nd:YAG is a type of laser also manufactured by Bell Labs in the same year. Nd represents neodymium. The initials YAG is good for yttrium-aluminium-garnet. (Now you discover why we talk about it by its initials.) This laser emits infrared light (1064 nm). It is used in ophthalmology and may be used to get rid of skin cancers. Gynecologists put it to use during hysteroscopy to deal with certain uterine conditions. It's most common cosmetic use is good for laser treatments and to eliminate spider veins in the face and legs. It can also assist in removing fungus from the fingernails and toenails.
Er:YAG is often a similar laser. Instead of neodymium, erbium can be used. This laser emits further into the infrared spectrum (2940 nm) and it is strongly absorbed by water. It is found in laser resurfacing from the skin to treat scarring, wrinkles, and melasma (patchy pigmented areas in the skin). It also may be used to get rid of warts. Dentists and oral surgeons use this laser to cut bone.
Q-Switched Lasers - Alexandrite, Ruby, Nd:Yag, Tunable Dye. OK, another geeky term, but a really useful technique. Q-Switching allows the laser to own high energy pulses rather than continuous beam. That makes these lasers perfect for tattoo removal. From the Wikipedia article on tattoo removal:
Q-switched Frequency-doubled Nd:Yag: 532 nm. This laser creates a green light that's highly absorbed by red and orange targets. Useful primarily for red and orange tattoo pigments, this wavelength can also be highly absorbed by melanin (mit giving complexion or tan) that makes the laser wavelength also effective for age spot or sun spot removal.
Q-switched Ruby: 694 nm. This laser results in a red light that is highly absorbed by green and dark tattoo pigments. Because it is more highly absorbed by melanin this laser may produce undesirable unwanted effects for example pigmentary changes for patients coming from all but white skin.
Q-switched Alexandrite: 755 nm. Similar for the Ruby laser, the alexandrite laser also generates a red light that is highly absorbed by green and dark tattoo pigments. However, the alexandrite laser color is slightly less absorbed by melanin, so this laser carries a slightly lower incidence of unwanted pigmentation changes compared to a ruby laser.
Q-switched Nd:YAG: 1064 nm. This laser creates a near-infrared light (invisible to humans) which is poorly absorbed by melanin, thus, making this the only real laser suitable for darker skin. This laser wavelength can also be absorbed by all dark tattoo pigments and is the safest wavelength to utilize on the tissue due to the low melanin absorption and low hemoglobin absorption. This wavelength may be the wavelength of choice for tattoo removal.
Dye modules are for sale for some lasers to convert 532 nm to 650 nm or 585 nm light. Which allows one laser system to securely and effectively treat multi-color tattoo inks.
Dye lasers work with an organic dye mixed using a solvent that is certainly stimulated by an high energy external source of light to lase. Mirrors are utilized to increase the vitality. Then cavities or resonators are used to tune the output. By selecting different dyes the output color can be changed. They are frequently used to help remedy port-wine stains and also other pigmented lesions of the skin. The can also be used to decrease scarring and make the skin tone more even. By matching the dyes to the different ink colors they can also be useful for tattoo removal.
IPL may be the last one to debate. Intense Pulsed Light is technically not only a laser. It produces very high intensity light in very short pulses. IPL may be the most popular type of hair removal 'laser' and is roughly as good as the Nd:YAG stated previously. It is also used to help remedy rosacea, birth marks, sun damaged skin, and scarring.
And that will take action for today. You are now more educated. Enjoy!
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