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LASERS : BASIC PRINCIPLE AND 
USES IN DERMATOLOGY 
Dr Rohit Kr. Singh 
Res. (Dermatology) 
Base Hospital 
LKO
Contents 
• Introduction 
• History of lasers 
• Basics components of laser 
• Principle and working of laser 
• Effect of laser on skin tissue 
• Applications of laser principles 
• Laser hazards and protections
Introduction 
DEFINITION 
• Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation 
(acronym coined by Gordon Gould) 
Conceptualization
A fantasy well-established in the past 
• In 1898, H.G. Wells describes in his 
book “The War of the Worlds” a 
“fiery ray” impressively similar to 
modern day lasers: 
• « It was as if they were hit by an 
invisible ray that exploded into white 
fire on impact. Suddenly, it seemed 
they were all turned to flame, and I 
stood there stupefied, unable to 
comprehend that it was death that 
leaped from one man to another (...) 
I only had the impression that it was 
something very strange, this silent jet 
of light that knocked down 
everything it touched, and when this 
invisible line passed over them, even 
the pine trees and the bushes burst 
into flame with a deafening 
sound... » 
The “fiery ray” described by H.G. Wells is the incarnation of the absolute weapon: fired out of 
a vibrating funnel, a narrow ray straight as a rod sweeps over the surrounding countryside 
destroying everything in its path. It is hardly surprising that this fantasy of ultimate power (a 
“death ray” that quickly and “cleanly” kills the potential target from afar) was extremely 
popular during the first half of the 20th century and when the research scientist T.
History : Some important dates 
• 1917: Albert Einstein developed the theoretical 
concept of photons & stimulated emission 
• 1954: Charles Townes & Arthur Schawlow built the 
first MASER using ammonia and microwave energy 
• 1960: Thomas Maiman produced the first laser using 
a synthetic ruby rod 
• 1960: Dr. Ali Javan-first continuous laser (He-Ne 
632.6 nm red gas ion laser
Pioneers
History of laser 
• 1960s: Dr. Leon Goldman: Father of Laser Medicine 
& Surgery-usage of laser in medical practice 
• 1962: Bennett et al: blue-green argon laser (retinal 
surgery) 
• 1964: Kumar Patel: CO2 laser 
• 1964: Nd:YAG laser 
• 1969: Dye laser 
• 1975: Excimer laser (noble gas-halide)
PIONEERS
BASICS COMPONENTS 
OF LASER
• A laser consists of two fundamental elements - LASER AMPLIFIER 
• These two components are sufficient to amplify an existing light source 
1. AMPLIFYING OR GAIN MEDIUM (solid, liquid or gas) 
– This medium is composed of atoms, molecules, ions or electrons whose energy levels are used to 
increase the power of a light wave during its propagation. 
– The physical principle involved is called stimulated emission 
2. PUMPING SYSTEM - a system to excite the amplifying medium 
– This creates the conditions for light amplification by supplying the necessary energy. 
– There are different kinds of pumping system: 
1. Optical (the sun, flash lamps, continuous arc lamps or tungsten-filament lamps, diode or other 
lasers) 
2. Electrical (gas discharge tubes, electric current in semi-conductors) 
3. Chemical 
3. OPTICAL RESONATOR (OR CAVITY) in order to produce a very special radiation 
– The laser oscillator uses reflecting mirrors to 
amplify the light source considerably 
by bouncing it back and forth within the cavity 
– It also has an output beam mirror that enables 
part of the light wave in the cavity to be removed 
and its radiation used 
• Technically, the whole device is known as a LASER OSCILLATOR, but this term is often shortened to simply 
“laser”.
Principle of laser 
• Atom will absorb and 
emit light photons at 
particular wavelength 
corresponding to the 
energy differences 
between orbits. The 
wavelength l of 
emitted or absorbed 
photon can be 
obtained by the 
formula 
• where E is the 
change in energy 
between the initial 
and final orbits. 
hf 
hc 
E   

Principle of laser (cont...) 
• “Stimulated emission” of radiation 
• Atoms or molecules are characterized by a set of discrete 
allowed energy states 
• An atom can move from one energy state to another when it 
receives or releases an amount of energy equal to the energy 
difference between the two states 
Three distinct process may occur in the medium 
1. Stimulated absorption 
2. Spontaneous emission 
3. Stimulated emission
Principle of stimulated emission of radiation 
• Two energy levels E1 and E2 (E1 < E2) whose atoms can 
interact with light of frequency 
• The group E1-E2 is called radiative transition if atoms can 
only pass from E1 to E2 (or from E2 to E1 ) by interacting with 
light 
• E1 is called the lower energy level 
• E2the upper energy level
The emission-absorption principle 
• Absorption: 
– An atom in a lower level absorbs a photon of frequency hν and moves to an upper level 
• Spontaneous emission 
– An atom in an upper level can decay spontaneously to the lower level and emit a photon of 
frequency hν if the transition between E2 and E1 is radiative 
– This photon has a random direction and phase 
• Stimulated emission 
– An incident photon causes an upper level atom to decay, emitting a “stimulated” photon 
whose properties are identical to those of the incident photon 
– The term “stimulated” underlines the fact that this kind of radiation only occurs if an incident 
photon is present 
– The amplification arises due to the similarities between the incident and emitted photons
Population inversion and pumping 
• To favour stimulated emission over 
absorption, there need to be more 
excited-state atoms than ground-state 
atoms 
• Spontaneous emission naturally tends 
to empty the upper level so this level 
has to be emptied faster by 
stimulated emission 
• It has been proved that stimulated 
emission is much more likely to 
happen if the medium used is flooded 
with light (i.e. with a large number of 
photons) 
+ 
• A good way to do this is to confine 
the photons in an optical cavity 
• The confinement of the light 
increases the probability of 
stimulated emission rather than 
spontaneous emission occurring 
•If there are more atoms in the upper 
level (N2) than in the lower level (N1), 
the system is not at equilibrium 
•A situation not at equilibrium must be 
created by adding energy via a process 
known as “pumping” light in order to 
raise enough atoms to the upper level 
•This is known as population 
inversion and is given by N2 - N1 = Δ 
•Light is amplified when the population 
inversion is positive 
•Pumping may be electrical, optical or 
chemical
Spectroscopic systems used to create 
a laser 
• Every pumping system (particularly optical 
or electrical) corresponds to a certain 
energy, which must be transferable to the 
atoms of the medium 
• The difference in energy between the 
excited state and the ground state must 
match the pumping energy 
• The objective is to store atoms in level 
E2 by absorbing “pumping” radiation 
whose wavelength is shorter than that of 
the laser transition 
• At least half of this population must be 
excited to level 2 to obtain population 
inversion 
• Moreover, level 2 must be able to store 
these atoms so spontaneous emission 
must be very unlikely
Gaussian beam 
An optical cavity selects a specific beam (a Gaussian beam) from the many 
photons spontaneously emitted by the “lamp-amplifying medium” and the 
number of photons carried by this beam is increased considerably, as it travels 
back and forth, by the process of stimulated emission. This beam can have a 
very low divergence and can be very precisely focused if the right optical tools 
are used.
Monochromaticity 
• The spectral bandwidth of a laser is given by the 
width of the spontaneous emission: if the 
transition between the upper and lower levels is 
narrow, then the spontaneous emission will be 
fractions of a nanometre (this is the case for the 
red line in neon, which has a width equal to 
1/1000th of a nanometre and a frequency of 1 
GHz) 
• The spectrum of a helium-neon laser is 
therefore “monochromatic” in the sense that 
only one colour is visible to the naked eye as the 
line is very narrow 
• The spectral properties of lasers become even 
more interesting when just one frequency can 
be selected (using a series of filters placed in 
the optical cavity) 
• The optical cavity is capable of filtering the 
spontaneous emission in the form of discrete 
frequencies (the longitudinal modes)
COLLIMATION TEMPORAL COHERENCE 
Directionality 
Temporal 
coherence 
Monochromicity
LASER characteristics 
LASER characteristics Symbol Unit of measurement 
Wavelenght lambda nm 
Spot size d ( diameter) 
s ( square) 
cm 
Pluse duration p (power) 
energy delivered per unit 
time 
Watt ( w) = joules × sec 
(j/sec) 
Fluence ɸ 
Energy delivered per unit 
area 
joule/cm2 
Irradiance Power delivered per unit 
area 
w/cm2
LASER beam types 
Continuous – wave (CW) LASERS Quasi – continuous – mode ( 
QSM) 
Pulsed LASERS 
Mechanism of 
action 
Continuous beam of light Continuous – wavelength lasers 
that are mechanically 
shuttered to deliver pulses of 
light as short as 20 ms 
Select pulse duration based 
on target size 
Long pulse (millisecond) : 
0.5 to 400 ms allows 
targeting of most hair and 
blood vessels ( ie visible to 
near IR) 
Short pulse ( microsecond) 
Modified to produce very 
short pulses with high peak 
power in a repititive 
fashion; developed to 
reduce the amount of 
thermal damage allows 
safer skin resufacing ( CO2) 
Q- switched (QS) 
nanosecond: allow build up 
of extremely high energy in 
laser cavity before 
discharging in very short 
single pulses 
Characteristics Little or no variation in power 
output over time (stable avg. 
beam power) 
Produces individual pulses of 
light 
Energy within the pulse is not 
constant but rather builds, 
peaks and tapers off within a 
very short time 
Peak power outputs are upto 
100 time the max. output of 
CW lasers 
Complications Non – selective tissue injuries ( 
scar) as heat spreads from 
chromophore 
Lower risk of thermal injury to 
surrounding non – targeted 
structures 
Examples CO2 LASER 
ARGON LASER 
KTP laser
Q- switched (QS) LASER 
•In order to store many atoms in an upper level, 
the flow to a lower level must first be limited 
•Thus, stimulated emission must be prevented by 
placing an attenuator in the cavity to stop light 
from travelling back and forth 
•When the pumping system supplies more atoms 
per second than lose energy by spontaneous 
emission, the population in the upper level can 
become very large 
•Stimulated emission becomes very probable and 
the laser is suddenly triggered 
•The flow due to stimulated emission is much 
greater than the other flows (filling by pumping 
and emptying by spontaneous emission): all the 
atoms stored in the upper level fall sharply, 
emitting stimulated photons (starting with the 
spontaneous emission trapped in the cavity)
The different types of laser can be classified according to the nature of the amplifying 
medium: gas, liquid(dye) or solid state
Gas lasers 
•Same pump source: 
electricity 
•The gaseous species 
enter the excited state 
either directly, by 
collision with electrons, 
or indirectly, by collision 
with other gases, 
themselves electrically 
excited 
•Gas lasers cover the 
whole optical spectrum, 
from the ultraviolet to 
the far infrared 
Dye lasers 
•Dye lasers use organic 
materials that 
generally emit in the 
visible spectrum and 
are thus coloured 
•The pump source of 
dye lasers is optical: 
either an arc lamp or, 
in the majority of 
cases, another laser 
(gas or solid state) 
•Dye lasers are the 
only ones to cover the 
visible spectrum 
entirely 
Solid state lasers 
•Solid state lasers 
are either 
semiconductor (or 
diode) lasers 
pumped electrically 
or those with a 
crystalline or glass 
matrix pumped 
optically 
•Also have range in 
visible and 
ultraviolet spectrum
Excimer 
lasers 
• Name is derived from the 
terms excited and dimers 
• Use reactive gases, chlorine 
and fluorine mied with inert 
gases such as argon, 
krypton,, or xenon 
• When electrically stimulated, 
a psedo – molecule (dimer) is 
produced 
• Hen lased, the dimer 
produces light in the UV 
range 
Non – Laser light 
sources 
Intense pulse light 
Non – coherent light 
within 500 to 1200 nm
Chromophores (absorbing molecules) 
Mechanism 
• Chromophores exhibit characteristic bands of absorption at certain wavelengths 
• When absorption occurs, the photon surrenders its energy to a chromophore. 
• Once absorbed, the photon ceases to exist and the chromophore becomes excited 
• It is this fact that allows for the delineation of specific targets for laser activity 
• Three primary skin chromophores are 
– Water 
– Hemoglobin 
– Melanin 
• Melanin absorbs broadly across the visible and ultraviolet (UV) spectrum 
• Oxyhemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin in blood exhibit strong bands in the UV, blue, 
green and yellow regions 
• Water has strong absorption in the infrared (IR) region
“Effect Of Laser On Skin Tissue” 
Skin optics 
Fresnel reflectance : 4–7% of 
light is typically reflected 
because of the difference in 
the refractive index between 
air (n = 0) and stratum 
corneum (n = 1.45)
Penetration of lasers 
• In pigmented epidermis, melanin 
absorption - optical spectrum (200– 
1000 nm) 
• In the dermis, there is strong, 
wavelength-dependent scattering by 
collagen fibres 
• In general, between 280 and 1300 
nm, the depth of penetration 
increases with wavelength 
• Above 1300 nm, penetration 
decreases due to the absorption of 
light by water 
• The most deeply penetrating 
wavelengths are 650–1200 nm, while 
the least penetrating wavelengths are 
within the far-UV and far-IR regions 
Penetration of laser depends 
upon 
1. Absorption and scattering 
2. Dept of penetration increases 
with wavelength 
3. Amount of scattering is 
inversely proportional to 
wavelength
The depth of optical penetration for CO2 lasers is only ~20 microns, but 
FRACTIONAL CO2 LASERS can vaporize nearly full-thickness microchannels through the dermis
Penetration of lasers 
• Ablative laser treatments work mainly on the epidermis 
(surface skin cells) 
• Non-ablative treatments work solely on dermal collagen (mid-layer 
of skin) only 
• Fractional laser treatment works at both the epidermal and 
dermal layers of the skin
THERMAL INTERACTIONS 
Photocoagulation 
• A Laser heating of tissues above 
50 oC but below 100oC induces 
disordering of proteins and other 
bio-molecules 
Photo-vaporization 
• With very high power densities, 
instead of cooking, lasers will 
quickly heat the tissues to above 
100o C , water within the tissues 
boils and evaporates. Since 70% 
of the body tissue is water, the 
boiling change the tissue into a 
gas
Thermal relaxation time (TRT) 
• Thermal relaxation time (TRT) is defined, for a given tissue 
structure, as the time required for the heated tissue to cool 
halfway towards its initial temperature 
Most of the absorbed energy is converted to heat 
Diffuse into the surrounding tissue 
Heat diffusion via conduction is also called thermal relaxation 
The key to clean ablation of tissue is to ablate it quickly, 
before much heat is conducted into surrounding tissue
Photochemical ablation 
• When using high power lasers of ultraviolet 
wavelength, some chemical bonds can be broken 
without causing local heating; this process is called 
photo-chemical ablation 
• The photo-chemical ablation results in clean-cut 
incision 
• The thermal component is relatively small and the 
zone of thermal interaction is limited in the incision 
wall
Selective photothermolysis 
• First arose to guide the design of a laser for treating 
pediatric port-wine stains 
• Selective, localized heating (with focal destruction of 
“target” structures) is achieved by a combination of 
selective light absorption and a pulse duration shorter 
than or approximately equal to the TRT of the targets 
• The optimal pulse duration for selective photothermolysis 
is approximately equal to the TRT
Skin cooling 
• Epidermal melanin damage most undesirable side 
effect of LASER treatment 
• All cooling methods extract heat at the skin 
surface via a cooling agent 
– Spray cooling, a cold liquid - liquid fluorocarbon is 
sprayed on the skin 
– Solid contact cooling - cold sapphire window held 
against the skin, through which laser or IPL energy is 
delivered 
– Cold air or cold gels - passive skin cooling
Skin cooling 
• Three basic types of skin cooling 
1. Pre-cooling 
– Pulsed dye and all Q-switched lasers (pulse durations shorter 
than ~5 milliseconds ) 
– Cryogen spray 
2. Parallel cooling 
– For pulses longer than ~5 milliseconds 
– Solid contact cooling with a cold sapphire window pressed 
against the skin just before and during 
3. Post-cooling 
– Bulk skin cooling before and after laser treatments (e.g. with ice 
or cold air) is useful for minimizing pain, erythema and edema
Applications of laser principles 
• Ablative (Vaporizing) Skin Resurfacing 
• Treatment of Vascular Lesions 
• Interactions During Treatment of Pigmented 
Lesions and Tattoos 
• Interactions During Hair Removal 
• Interactions During Non-ablative Skin 
Rejuvenation 
• Fractional Photothermolysis 
• Laser-Based Diagnostics
Ablative (Vaporizing) Skin Resurfacing 
• The ablative lasers are far-IR 
– CO2 (10 600 nm) 
– Erbium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:YAG; 2940 nm) 
• Chromophore - water 
• Pulsed and/or scanned focused beams are used to precisely vaporize 
superficial tissue, causing a “plume” of material leaving the skin. 
• Most of the heat is removed during vaporization, but a thin layer of 
residual thermal damage remains that is useful for hemostasis. 
• Laser resurfacing is very useful for treating 
– Photoaging 
– Scars 
– Epidermal nevi 
– Seborrheic keratoses 
• Resurfacing removes the old epidermis and stimulates contraction and 
remodeling of the dermis for many months after treatment 
• Complications - Scarring, transient hyperpigmentation, delayed-onset 
permanent hypopigmentation, prolonged erythema, and bacterial, viral 
and fungal infections have been reported after laser resurfacing
Treatment of Vascular Lesions 
• A peak of absorption by oxyhemoglobin occurs at 577 nm within 
the yellow spectrum 
1. Flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye lasers (PDLs) (585–600 nm) with 
pulse durations ranging from 0.45 to 40 milliseconds 
2. Pulsed neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) lasers (1064 nm) 
3. Alexandrite lasers (755 nm, ~3 millisecond pulse duration) 
– Hypertrophic lesions 
– PDL-resistant vascular lesions 
– This difference may be due to preferential absorption by 
oxyhemoglobin at 1064 nm, in contrast to preferential absorption by 
deoxyhemoglobin at 755 nm
Cont… 
4. Copper vapour or copper bromide lasers emit either green light at 
511 nm or yellow light at 578 nm 
5. Potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) lasers, at a wavelength of 532 
nm 
• Complications 
– Purpura is the result of microvascular hemorrhage, 
– Subsequent thrombosis 
– Delayed appearance of vasculitis 
When the pulse duration exceeds -20 milliseconds, there is little or 
no immediate purpura because cavitation and vessel rupture are 
avoided
Laser used for vascular lesions 
Indication laser 
Port – wine stain PDL 
IPL 
Hemangiomas PDL 
Telangiectasia Green light lasers ( 532nm) PDL 
Diode laser 
Long – plse Nd:YAG ( 1064nm) 
Pyogenic granuloma PDL 
CO2 laser, combined continuous 
– wave/pulse 
Angiofibromas PDL 
CO2
PROLIFERATING HEMANGIOMAS
Interactions During Treatment of 
Pigmented Lesions and Tattoos 
• Melanin has a broad absorption spectrum which lends itself to possible 
targeting by a wide variety of lasers 
• Choice of treatment wavelength is based on 
– Avoiding absorption by other chromophores 
– Matching depth of penetration to the depth of the lesion 
• Red and near-IR lasers are the most selective 
• Mechanism 
– Treatment of tattoos with Q-switched lasers fragments the ink particles and 
selectively kills pigment-containing cells, with 
– Resultant ink particle release 
– Subsequent removal of tattoo ink particles can occur via an epidermal crust 
and/or lymphatic transport, and some particles are re-phagocytosed by 
dermal cells
Laser treatment for tattoo pigment 
Laser type Wavelength ( nm) Tattoo pigment colour 
Pigmented PDL 510 Orange, yellow, purple 
QS Nd:YAG, frequency 
doubled 
532 Red, orange, yellow 
QS ruby 694 Red, blue-black 
Occasionally green and 
brown 
QS alexandrite 755 Blue, black and green 
QS Nd: YAG 1064 Blue-black
TATTOOS
• LASER commonly are used 
1. Q-switched ruby ( 694 nm) 
2. Alexandrite lasers (775 nm) 
3. Q-switched Nd:YAG laser emits at 1064 nmwith typical pulse durations 
of 10 nanoseconds 
Other conditions 
• Lentigines, 
• Nevus of Ota 
• Café-au-lait macules 
• Melanocytic nevi 
• Side effects: pigment & textural changes, allergic reactions, ink darkening, 
tissue aerosolization with possible infectious particles.
Interactions During Hair Removal 
• Red to near-IR region of the spectrum (i.e. deeply 
penetrating) 
• High-energy, 
• Millisecond-domain pulses of wavelengths 
– Ruby Lasers ( 694nm) 
– Alexandrite Lasers ( 755nm) 
– Diode Lasers ( 800 – 810 nm) 
– Nd:YAG Lasers ( 1064 nm)
Mechanism 
• Damage to follicular stem cells in the bulge region of the 
outer root sheath and/or the dermal papilla at the base of 
the hair follicle 
Temporary hair loss 
– Induction of catagen, which can occur at very low fluences; 
– An 810 nm diode laser source intended for home use 
Permanent loss of terminal hair 
– Miniaturization to produce vellus-like hairs 
– Complete degeneration with local fibrosis 
Unwanted stimulation of a vellus-to-terminal hair transition can 
occur after laser or IPL treatments, particularly on the face
Interactions During Non-ablative 
Skin Rejuvenation 
• Non-ablative facial rejuvenation 
• Fine lines 
• Non-dynamic rhytides 
• Mid-IR lasers 
– 1320 nm Nd:YAG 
– 1450 nm diode 
– 1540 nm erbium:glass lasers 
– IPL sources 
Mechanism 
• These work by subtle thermal effects on the dermis, presumably 
stimulating a wound healing response 
• Responses to non-ablative rejuvenation are usually gradual and subtle
TREATMENT OF RHYTIDES
Fractional Photothermolysis 
• Thousands of nearly invisible, microscopic 
zones of thermal injury are created 
• Stimulating turnover 
• Remodelling of both the epidermis and dermis
• Non-ablative FP uses focused mid-IR laser microbeams to create a 
pixilated pattern of small columns of thermal damage, called 
microthermal treatment zones (MTZs) 
• Ablative FP uses carbon dioxide or erbium (Er:YAG) lasers to vaporize a 
similar pattern of small vertical channels that can extend deeply into the 
skin 
Uses 
• Scars, 
• Fine rhytides, 
• Telangiectasias, 
• Dermatoheliosis 
• Poikiloderma 
• Ablative FP may also bean effective mechanism for topical drug delivery, 
by providing many channels directly into the dermis.
Laser-Based Diagnostics 
1.Optical coherence tomography (OCT) 
– Near-IR, 
– low-coherence light 
– Used for high-resolution crosssectional imaging of body 
tissues 
• Doppler version has been shown to be capable of imaging 
blood flow before and after laser treatment of vascular 
lesions
2. Laser confocal microscopy 
• Captures light scattered or emitted from a thin plane “section” 
inside skin 
• In vivo with histology-like resolution down to a depth of 
approximately 0.3 mm 
• Because histochemical stains are not used, confocal microscopy of 
skin tumors reveals diagnostic features that are different from 
those of conventional histology 
• Microvascular blood flow and trafficking of lymphocytes can be 
observed 
• In a preliminary study, the sensitivity and specificity of in vivo 
confocal microscopy for differentiating melanocytic nevi and 
seborrheic keratoses from cutaneous melanoma and basal cell 
carcinoma were 94% and 98%, respectively
Laser hazards and protections
Hazards to the eye 
The cornea and lens 
•Cornea is accessible to danger of UV and most of IR 
lasers, 
•UV-A, UV-B (between 295nm and 320 nm) and IR-A 
(between 1 to 2 mm) are dangerous for lens, 
•308-nm (UV-B) excimer XeCl laser is particular dangerous 
because of it can simultaneously damage the lens, the 
cornea and the retina.
Hazards to the eye 
The retina 
The directionality of a laser beam permits the ray to be 
focused to an extremely small spot on the retina. A 
collimated laser will be concentrated by a factor of 
100,000 when passing from cornea to retina. 
Visible or near IR lasers (400 
nm to 1400nm) are particularly 
dangerous to the retina and 
always requires eye-protection 
when working with these kind 
of lasers.
Protection to the eye 
Eye protection 
Eyewear (goggles) is the most common laser protective 
measure, especially for open laser beams. It should be 
good design with all around shielding and adequate 
visible light transmission. 
Identification of the eyewear : All laser protective 
eyewear shall be clearly labelled with information 
adequate to ensure the proper choice of eyewear with 
particular lasers.
Fire hazards 
• FIRE HAZARDS 
• Drapes, clothing, dry hair and plastic 
materials, including endotracheal 
tubes, can be ignited, especially 
when oxygen is in use 
• Greatest risk is with the CO2 and 
erbium:YAG lasers used for skin 
resurfacing and ablative fractional 
treatments 
• PREVENTION OF FIRES 
• Remember to place the laser in 
STANDBY mode when not actually 
treating the patient 
• Avoid inadvertently activating the 
laser foot-switch 
• Moisten any hair near the treatment 
field; remove mascara and eye 
makeup when working around 
eyelids 
• Alcohol, acetone or other flammable 
skin-cleaning solutions must be 
allowed to completely dry before 
laser use 
• Reduce intraoperative oxygen 
concentration to <40% 
• A fire extinguisher and water should 
be readily available
Cutaneous burns 
• POSSIBLE CUTANEOUS 
BURNS 
• Can occur with essentially 
all dermatological laser, IPL, 
RF or therapeutic 
ultrasound devices 
• Primarily due to improper 
device, dosimetry and/or 
treatment technique 
• PREVENTION OF 
CUTANEOUS BURNS 
• Knowledge and careful 
observation of specific 
clinical endpoint responses 
for a particular laser–lesion 
combination
“Plume” materials 
• INHALATION OF LASER-GENERATED 
“PLUME” 
MATERIALS 
• Particularly with resurfacing or 
vaporization of hair during its 
removal; latter can release 
irritating sulfur and other 
oxides 
• PREVENTION OF LASER 
“PLUME” BIOHAZARDS 
• Smoke evacuator and good 
ventilation are most effective 
measures 
• Sub-micrometer surgical filter 
masks provide some 
protection when worn 
properly 
• Q-switched lasers capture 
particulate material in plastic 
cones
Conclsion 
• Lasers and IPL should just be considered as “drugs”, 
i.e. something that can be manipulated to ease the 
burden of those suffering from skin diseases 
• Total internal reflection of spontaneous emission of 
radiation (TRASER) devices, which are neither lasers 
nor IPL, are more efficient than lasers and are 
tunable
REFERENCES 
1) FITZPATRICK’S DERMATOLOGY IN 
GENERAL MEDICINE 
2) ROOK’S TEXTBOOK OF DERMTOLOGY 
3) IADVL TEXTBOOK & ATLAS OF 
DERMATOLOGY BY R.G. & AMEET 
VALIA 
4) TEXT BOOK OF DERMATOLOGY BY 
BOLOGNIA 3ed
THANK YOU

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BASICS OF LASER AND IT'S USE IN DERMATOLOGY

  • 1. LASERS : BASIC PRINCIPLE AND USES IN DERMATOLOGY Dr Rohit Kr. Singh Res. (Dermatology) Base Hospital LKO
  • 2. Contents • Introduction • History of lasers • Basics components of laser • Principle and working of laser • Effect of laser on skin tissue • Applications of laser principles • Laser hazards and protections
  • 3. Introduction DEFINITION • Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation (acronym coined by Gordon Gould) Conceptualization
  • 4. A fantasy well-established in the past • In 1898, H.G. Wells describes in his book “The War of the Worlds” a “fiery ray” impressively similar to modern day lasers: • « It was as if they were hit by an invisible ray that exploded into white fire on impact. Suddenly, it seemed they were all turned to flame, and I stood there stupefied, unable to comprehend that it was death that leaped from one man to another (...) I only had the impression that it was something very strange, this silent jet of light that knocked down everything it touched, and when this invisible line passed over them, even the pine trees and the bushes burst into flame with a deafening sound... » The “fiery ray” described by H.G. Wells is the incarnation of the absolute weapon: fired out of a vibrating funnel, a narrow ray straight as a rod sweeps over the surrounding countryside destroying everything in its path. It is hardly surprising that this fantasy of ultimate power (a “death ray” that quickly and “cleanly” kills the potential target from afar) was extremely popular during the first half of the 20th century and when the research scientist T.
  • 5. History : Some important dates • 1917: Albert Einstein developed the theoretical concept of photons & stimulated emission • 1954: Charles Townes & Arthur Schawlow built the first MASER using ammonia and microwave energy • 1960: Thomas Maiman produced the first laser using a synthetic ruby rod • 1960: Dr. Ali Javan-first continuous laser (He-Ne 632.6 nm red gas ion laser
  • 7. History of laser • 1960s: Dr. Leon Goldman: Father of Laser Medicine & Surgery-usage of laser in medical practice • 1962: Bennett et al: blue-green argon laser (retinal surgery) • 1964: Kumar Patel: CO2 laser • 1964: Nd:YAG laser • 1969: Dye laser • 1975: Excimer laser (noble gas-halide)
  • 10. • A laser consists of two fundamental elements - LASER AMPLIFIER • These two components are sufficient to amplify an existing light source 1. AMPLIFYING OR GAIN MEDIUM (solid, liquid or gas) – This medium is composed of atoms, molecules, ions or electrons whose energy levels are used to increase the power of a light wave during its propagation. – The physical principle involved is called stimulated emission 2. PUMPING SYSTEM - a system to excite the amplifying medium – This creates the conditions for light amplification by supplying the necessary energy. – There are different kinds of pumping system: 1. Optical (the sun, flash lamps, continuous arc lamps or tungsten-filament lamps, diode or other lasers) 2. Electrical (gas discharge tubes, electric current in semi-conductors) 3. Chemical 3. OPTICAL RESONATOR (OR CAVITY) in order to produce a very special radiation – The laser oscillator uses reflecting mirrors to amplify the light source considerably by bouncing it back and forth within the cavity – It also has an output beam mirror that enables part of the light wave in the cavity to be removed and its radiation used • Technically, the whole device is known as a LASER OSCILLATOR, but this term is often shortened to simply “laser”.
  • 11. Principle of laser • Atom will absorb and emit light photons at particular wavelength corresponding to the energy differences between orbits. The wavelength l of emitted or absorbed photon can be obtained by the formula • where E is the change in energy between the initial and final orbits. hf hc E   
  • 12. Principle of laser (cont...) • “Stimulated emission” of radiation • Atoms or molecules are characterized by a set of discrete allowed energy states • An atom can move from one energy state to another when it receives or releases an amount of energy equal to the energy difference between the two states Three distinct process may occur in the medium 1. Stimulated absorption 2. Spontaneous emission 3. Stimulated emission
  • 13. Principle of stimulated emission of radiation • Two energy levels E1 and E2 (E1 < E2) whose atoms can interact with light of frequency • The group E1-E2 is called radiative transition if atoms can only pass from E1 to E2 (or from E2 to E1 ) by interacting with light • E1 is called the lower energy level • E2the upper energy level
  • 14. The emission-absorption principle • Absorption: – An atom in a lower level absorbs a photon of frequency hν and moves to an upper level • Spontaneous emission – An atom in an upper level can decay spontaneously to the lower level and emit a photon of frequency hν if the transition between E2 and E1 is radiative – This photon has a random direction and phase • Stimulated emission – An incident photon causes an upper level atom to decay, emitting a “stimulated” photon whose properties are identical to those of the incident photon – The term “stimulated” underlines the fact that this kind of radiation only occurs if an incident photon is present – The amplification arises due to the similarities between the incident and emitted photons
  • 15. Population inversion and pumping • To favour stimulated emission over absorption, there need to be more excited-state atoms than ground-state atoms • Spontaneous emission naturally tends to empty the upper level so this level has to be emptied faster by stimulated emission • It has been proved that stimulated emission is much more likely to happen if the medium used is flooded with light (i.e. with a large number of photons) + • A good way to do this is to confine the photons in an optical cavity • The confinement of the light increases the probability of stimulated emission rather than spontaneous emission occurring •If there are more atoms in the upper level (N2) than in the lower level (N1), the system is not at equilibrium •A situation not at equilibrium must be created by adding energy via a process known as “pumping” light in order to raise enough atoms to the upper level •This is known as population inversion and is given by N2 - N1 = Δ •Light is amplified when the population inversion is positive •Pumping may be electrical, optical or chemical
  • 16. Spectroscopic systems used to create a laser • Every pumping system (particularly optical or electrical) corresponds to a certain energy, which must be transferable to the atoms of the medium • The difference in energy between the excited state and the ground state must match the pumping energy • The objective is to store atoms in level E2 by absorbing “pumping” radiation whose wavelength is shorter than that of the laser transition • At least half of this population must be excited to level 2 to obtain population inversion • Moreover, level 2 must be able to store these atoms so spontaneous emission must be very unlikely
  • 17. Gaussian beam An optical cavity selects a specific beam (a Gaussian beam) from the many photons spontaneously emitted by the “lamp-amplifying medium” and the number of photons carried by this beam is increased considerably, as it travels back and forth, by the process of stimulated emission. This beam can have a very low divergence and can be very precisely focused if the right optical tools are used.
  • 18. Monochromaticity • The spectral bandwidth of a laser is given by the width of the spontaneous emission: if the transition between the upper and lower levels is narrow, then the spontaneous emission will be fractions of a nanometre (this is the case for the red line in neon, which has a width equal to 1/1000th of a nanometre and a frequency of 1 GHz) • The spectrum of a helium-neon laser is therefore “monochromatic” in the sense that only one colour is visible to the naked eye as the line is very narrow • The spectral properties of lasers become even more interesting when just one frequency can be selected (using a series of filters placed in the optical cavity) • The optical cavity is capable of filtering the spontaneous emission in the form of discrete frequencies (the longitudinal modes)
  • 19. COLLIMATION TEMPORAL COHERENCE Directionality Temporal coherence Monochromicity
  • 20. LASER characteristics LASER characteristics Symbol Unit of measurement Wavelenght lambda nm Spot size d ( diameter) s ( square) cm Pluse duration p (power) energy delivered per unit time Watt ( w) = joules × sec (j/sec) Fluence ɸ Energy delivered per unit area joule/cm2 Irradiance Power delivered per unit area w/cm2
  • 21. LASER beam types Continuous – wave (CW) LASERS Quasi – continuous – mode ( QSM) Pulsed LASERS Mechanism of action Continuous beam of light Continuous – wavelength lasers that are mechanically shuttered to deliver pulses of light as short as 20 ms Select pulse duration based on target size Long pulse (millisecond) : 0.5 to 400 ms allows targeting of most hair and blood vessels ( ie visible to near IR) Short pulse ( microsecond) Modified to produce very short pulses with high peak power in a repititive fashion; developed to reduce the amount of thermal damage allows safer skin resufacing ( CO2) Q- switched (QS) nanosecond: allow build up of extremely high energy in laser cavity before discharging in very short single pulses Characteristics Little or no variation in power output over time (stable avg. beam power) Produces individual pulses of light Energy within the pulse is not constant but rather builds, peaks and tapers off within a very short time Peak power outputs are upto 100 time the max. output of CW lasers Complications Non – selective tissue injuries ( scar) as heat spreads from chromophore Lower risk of thermal injury to surrounding non – targeted structures Examples CO2 LASER ARGON LASER KTP laser
  • 22. Q- switched (QS) LASER •In order to store many atoms in an upper level, the flow to a lower level must first be limited •Thus, stimulated emission must be prevented by placing an attenuator in the cavity to stop light from travelling back and forth •When the pumping system supplies more atoms per second than lose energy by spontaneous emission, the population in the upper level can become very large •Stimulated emission becomes very probable and the laser is suddenly triggered •The flow due to stimulated emission is much greater than the other flows (filling by pumping and emptying by spontaneous emission): all the atoms stored in the upper level fall sharply, emitting stimulated photons (starting with the spontaneous emission trapped in the cavity)
  • 23. The different types of laser can be classified according to the nature of the amplifying medium: gas, liquid(dye) or solid state
  • 24. Gas lasers •Same pump source: electricity •The gaseous species enter the excited state either directly, by collision with electrons, or indirectly, by collision with other gases, themselves electrically excited •Gas lasers cover the whole optical spectrum, from the ultraviolet to the far infrared Dye lasers •Dye lasers use organic materials that generally emit in the visible spectrum and are thus coloured •The pump source of dye lasers is optical: either an arc lamp or, in the majority of cases, another laser (gas or solid state) •Dye lasers are the only ones to cover the visible spectrum entirely Solid state lasers •Solid state lasers are either semiconductor (or diode) lasers pumped electrically or those with a crystalline or glass matrix pumped optically •Also have range in visible and ultraviolet spectrum
  • 25. Excimer lasers • Name is derived from the terms excited and dimers • Use reactive gases, chlorine and fluorine mied with inert gases such as argon, krypton,, or xenon • When electrically stimulated, a psedo – molecule (dimer) is produced • Hen lased, the dimer produces light in the UV range Non – Laser light sources Intense pulse light Non – coherent light within 500 to 1200 nm
  • 26.
  • 27. Chromophores (absorbing molecules) Mechanism • Chromophores exhibit characteristic bands of absorption at certain wavelengths • When absorption occurs, the photon surrenders its energy to a chromophore. • Once absorbed, the photon ceases to exist and the chromophore becomes excited • It is this fact that allows for the delineation of specific targets for laser activity • Three primary skin chromophores are – Water – Hemoglobin – Melanin • Melanin absorbs broadly across the visible and ultraviolet (UV) spectrum • Oxyhemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin in blood exhibit strong bands in the UV, blue, green and yellow regions • Water has strong absorption in the infrared (IR) region
  • 28.
  • 29. “Effect Of Laser On Skin Tissue” Skin optics Fresnel reflectance : 4–7% of light is typically reflected because of the difference in the refractive index between air (n = 0) and stratum corneum (n = 1.45)
  • 30. Penetration of lasers • In pigmented epidermis, melanin absorption - optical spectrum (200– 1000 nm) • In the dermis, there is strong, wavelength-dependent scattering by collagen fibres • In general, between 280 and 1300 nm, the depth of penetration increases with wavelength • Above 1300 nm, penetration decreases due to the absorption of light by water • The most deeply penetrating wavelengths are 650–1200 nm, while the least penetrating wavelengths are within the far-UV and far-IR regions Penetration of laser depends upon 1. Absorption and scattering 2. Dept of penetration increases with wavelength 3. Amount of scattering is inversely proportional to wavelength
  • 31. The depth of optical penetration for CO2 lasers is only ~20 microns, but FRACTIONAL CO2 LASERS can vaporize nearly full-thickness microchannels through the dermis
  • 32. Penetration of lasers • Ablative laser treatments work mainly on the epidermis (surface skin cells) • Non-ablative treatments work solely on dermal collagen (mid-layer of skin) only • Fractional laser treatment works at both the epidermal and dermal layers of the skin
  • 33. THERMAL INTERACTIONS Photocoagulation • A Laser heating of tissues above 50 oC but below 100oC induces disordering of proteins and other bio-molecules Photo-vaporization • With very high power densities, instead of cooking, lasers will quickly heat the tissues to above 100o C , water within the tissues boils and evaporates. Since 70% of the body tissue is water, the boiling change the tissue into a gas
  • 34. Thermal relaxation time (TRT) • Thermal relaxation time (TRT) is defined, for a given tissue structure, as the time required for the heated tissue to cool halfway towards its initial temperature Most of the absorbed energy is converted to heat Diffuse into the surrounding tissue Heat diffusion via conduction is also called thermal relaxation The key to clean ablation of tissue is to ablate it quickly, before much heat is conducted into surrounding tissue
  • 35. Photochemical ablation • When using high power lasers of ultraviolet wavelength, some chemical bonds can be broken without causing local heating; this process is called photo-chemical ablation • The photo-chemical ablation results in clean-cut incision • The thermal component is relatively small and the zone of thermal interaction is limited in the incision wall
  • 36. Selective photothermolysis • First arose to guide the design of a laser for treating pediatric port-wine stains • Selective, localized heating (with focal destruction of “target” structures) is achieved by a combination of selective light absorption and a pulse duration shorter than or approximately equal to the TRT of the targets • The optimal pulse duration for selective photothermolysis is approximately equal to the TRT
  • 37.
  • 38.
  • 39. Skin cooling • Epidermal melanin damage most undesirable side effect of LASER treatment • All cooling methods extract heat at the skin surface via a cooling agent – Spray cooling, a cold liquid - liquid fluorocarbon is sprayed on the skin – Solid contact cooling - cold sapphire window held against the skin, through which laser or IPL energy is delivered – Cold air or cold gels - passive skin cooling
  • 40. Skin cooling • Three basic types of skin cooling 1. Pre-cooling – Pulsed dye and all Q-switched lasers (pulse durations shorter than ~5 milliseconds ) – Cryogen spray 2. Parallel cooling – For pulses longer than ~5 milliseconds – Solid contact cooling with a cold sapphire window pressed against the skin just before and during 3. Post-cooling – Bulk skin cooling before and after laser treatments (e.g. with ice or cold air) is useful for minimizing pain, erythema and edema
  • 41. Applications of laser principles • Ablative (Vaporizing) Skin Resurfacing • Treatment of Vascular Lesions • Interactions During Treatment of Pigmented Lesions and Tattoos • Interactions During Hair Removal • Interactions During Non-ablative Skin Rejuvenation • Fractional Photothermolysis • Laser-Based Diagnostics
  • 42. Ablative (Vaporizing) Skin Resurfacing • The ablative lasers are far-IR – CO2 (10 600 nm) – Erbium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:YAG; 2940 nm) • Chromophore - water • Pulsed and/or scanned focused beams are used to precisely vaporize superficial tissue, causing a “plume” of material leaving the skin. • Most of the heat is removed during vaporization, but a thin layer of residual thermal damage remains that is useful for hemostasis. • Laser resurfacing is very useful for treating – Photoaging – Scars – Epidermal nevi – Seborrheic keratoses • Resurfacing removes the old epidermis and stimulates contraction and remodeling of the dermis for many months after treatment • Complications - Scarring, transient hyperpigmentation, delayed-onset permanent hypopigmentation, prolonged erythema, and bacterial, viral and fungal infections have been reported after laser resurfacing
  • 43. Treatment of Vascular Lesions • A peak of absorption by oxyhemoglobin occurs at 577 nm within the yellow spectrum 1. Flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye lasers (PDLs) (585–600 nm) with pulse durations ranging from 0.45 to 40 milliseconds 2. Pulsed neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) lasers (1064 nm) 3. Alexandrite lasers (755 nm, ~3 millisecond pulse duration) – Hypertrophic lesions – PDL-resistant vascular lesions – This difference may be due to preferential absorption by oxyhemoglobin at 1064 nm, in contrast to preferential absorption by deoxyhemoglobin at 755 nm
  • 44. Cont… 4. Copper vapour or copper bromide lasers emit either green light at 511 nm or yellow light at 578 nm 5. Potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) lasers, at a wavelength of 532 nm • Complications – Purpura is the result of microvascular hemorrhage, – Subsequent thrombosis – Delayed appearance of vasculitis When the pulse duration exceeds -20 milliseconds, there is little or no immediate purpura because cavitation and vessel rupture are avoided
  • 45. Laser used for vascular lesions Indication laser Port – wine stain PDL IPL Hemangiomas PDL Telangiectasia Green light lasers ( 532nm) PDL Diode laser Long – plse Nd:YAG ( 1064nm) Pyogenic granuloma PDL CO2 laser, combined continuous – wave/pulse Angiofibromas PDL CO2
  • 47. Interactions During Treatment of Pigmented Lesions and Tattoos • Melanin has a broad absorption spectrum which lends itself to possible targeting by a wide variety of lasers • Choice of treatment wavelength is based on – Avoiding absorption by other chromophores – Matching depth of penetration to the depth of the lesion • Red and near-IR lasers are the most selective • Mechanism – Treatment of tattoos with Q-switched lasers fragments the ink particles and selectively kills pigment-containing cells, with – Resultant ink particle release – Subsequent removal of tattoo ink particles can occur via an epidermal crust and/or lymphatic transport, and some particles are re-phagocytosed by dermal cells
  • 48. Laser treatment for tattoo pigment Laser type Wavelength ( nm) Tattoo pigment colour Pigmented PDL 510 Orange, yellow, purple QS Nd:YAG, frequency doubled 532 Red, orange, yellow QS ruby 694 Red, blue-black Occasionally green and brown QS alexandrite 755 Blue, black and green QS Nd: YAG 1064 Blue-black
  • 50. • LASER commonly are used 1. Q-switched ruby ( 694 nm) 2. Alexandrite lasers (775 nm) 3. Q-switched Nd:YAG laser emits at 1064 nmwith typical pulse durations of 10 nanoseconds Other conditions • Lentigines, • Nevus of Ota • Café-au-lait macules • Melanocytic nevi • Side effects: pigment & textural changes, allergic reactions, ink darkening, tissue aerosolization with possible infectious particles.
  • 51. Interactions During Hair Removal • Red to near-IR region of the spectrum (i.e. deeply penetrating) • High-energy, • Millisecond-domain pulses of wavelengths – Ruby Lasers ( 694nm) – Alexandrite Lasers ( 755nm) – Diode Lasers ( 800 – 810 nm) – Nd:YAG Lasers ( 1064 nm)
  • 52. Mechanism • Damage to follicular stem cells in the bulge region of the outer root sheath and/or the dermal papilla at the base of the hair follicle Temporary hair loss – Induction of catagen, which can occur at very low fluences; – An 810 nm diode laser source intended for home use Permanent loss of terminal hair – Miniaturization to produce vellus-like hairs – Complete degeneration with local fibrosis Unwanted stimulation of a vellus-to-terminal hair transition can occur after laser or IPL treatments, particularly on the face
  • 53. Interactions During Non-ablative Skin Rejuvenation • Non-ablative facial rejuvenation • Fine lines • Non-dynamic rhytides • Mid-IR lasers – 1320 nm Nd:YAG – 1450 nm diode – 1540 nm erbium:glass lasers – IPL sources Mechanism • These work by subtle thermal effects on the dermis, presumably stimulating a wound healing response • Responses to non-ablative rejuvenation are usually gradual and subtle
  • 55. Fractional Photothermolysis • Thousands of nearly invisible, microscopic zones of thermal injury are created • Stimulating turnover • Remodelling of both the epidermis and dermis
  • 56. • Non-ablative FP uses focused mid-IR laser microbeams to create a pixilated pattern of small columns of thermal damage, called microthermal treatment zones (MTZs) • Ablative FP uses carbon dioxide or erbium (Er:YAG) lasers to vaporize a similar pattern of small vertical channels that can extend deeply into the skin Uses • Scars, • Fine rhytides, • Telangiectasias, • Dermatoheliosis • Poikiloderma • Ablative FP may also bean effective mechanism for topical drug delivery, by providing many channels directly into the dermis.
  • 57. Laser-Based Diagnostics 1.Optical coherence tomography (OCT) – Near-IR, – low-coherence light – Used for high-resolution crosssectional imaging of body tissues • Doppler version has been shown to be capable of imaging blood flow before and after laser treatment of vascular lesions
  • 58. 2. Laser confocal microscopy • Captures light scattered or emitted from a thin plane “section” inside skin • In vivo with histology-like resolution down to a depth of approximately 0.3 mm • Because histochemical stains are not used, confocal microscopy of skin tumors reveals diagnostic features that are different from those of conventional histology • Microvascular blood flow and trafficking of lymphocytes can be observed • In a preliminary study, the sensitivity and specificity of in vivo confocal microscopy for differentiating melanocytic nevi and seborrheic keratoses from cutaneous melanoma and basal cell carcinoma were 94% and 98%, respectively
  • 59. Laser hazards and protections
  • 60. Hazards to the eye The cornea and lens •Cornea is accessible to danger of UV and most of IR lasers, •UV-A, UV-B (between 295nm and 320 nm) and IR-A (between 1 to 2 mm) are dangerous for lens, •308-nm (UV-B) excimer XeCl laser is particular dangerous because of it can simultaneously damage the lens, the cornea and the retina.
  • 61. Hazards to the eye The retina The directionality of a laser beam permits the ray to be focused to an extremely small spot on the retina. A collimated laser will be concentrated by a factor of 100,000 when passing from cornea to retina. Visible or near IR lasers (400 nm to 1400nm) are particularly dangerous to the retina and always requires eye-protection when working with these kind of lasers.
  • 62. Protection to the eye Eye protection Eyewear (goggles) is the most common laser protective measure, especially for open laser beams. It should be good design with all around shielding and adequate visible light transmission. Identification of the eyewear : All laser protective eyewear shall be clearly labelled with information adequate to ensure the proper choice of eyewear with particular lasers.
  • 63. Fire hazards • FIRE HAZARDS • Drapes, clothing, dry hair and plastic materials, including endotracheal tubes, can be ignited, especially when oxygen is in use • Greatest risk is with the CO2 and erbium:YAG lasers used for skin resurfacing and ablative fractional treatments • PREVENTION OF FIRES • Remember to place the laser in STANDBY mode when not actually treating the patient • Avoid inadvertently activating the laser foot-switch • Moisten any hair near the treatment field; remove mascara and eye makeup when working around eyelids • Alcohol, acetone or other flammable skin-cleaning solutions must be allowed to completely dry before laser use • Reduce intraoperative oxygen concentration to <40% • A fire extinguisher and water should be readily available
  • 64. Cutaneous burns • POSSIBLE CUTANEOUS BURNS • Can occur with essentially all dermatological laser, IPL, RF or therapeutic ultrasound devices • Primarily due to improper device, dosimetry and/or treatment technique • PREVENTION OF CUTANEOUS BURNS • Knowledge and careful observation of specific clinical endpoint responses for a particular laser–lesion combination
  • 65. “Plume” materials • INHALATION OF LASER-GENERATED “PLUME” MATERIALS • Particularly with resurfacing or vaporization of hair during its removal; latter can release irritating sulfur and other oxides • PREVENTION OF LASER “PLUME” BIOHAZARDS • Smoke evacuator and good ventilation are most effective measures • Sub-micrometer surgical filter masks provide some protection when worn properly • Q-switched lasers capture particulate material in plastic cones
  • 66. Conclsion • Lasers and IPL should just be considered as “drugs”, i.e. something that can be manipulated to ease the burden of those suffering from skin diseases • Total internal reflection of spontaneous emission of radiation (TRASER) devices, which are neither lasers nor IPL, are more efficient than lasers and are tunable
  • 67. REFERENCES 1) FITZPATRICK’S DERMATOLOGY IN GENERAL MEDICINE 2) ROOK’S TEXTBOOK OF DERMTOLOGY 3) IADVL TEXTBOOK & ATLAS OF DERMATOLOGY BY R.G. & AMEET VALIA 4) TEXT BOOK OF DERMATOLOGY BY BOLOGNIA 3ed