The dissolution of upconverting AYF4:Yb,Tm (A = Na or K) nanoparticles (UCNPs) in aqueous media was systematically studied. UCNPs with a cubic structure and sizes of between 10 and 33 nm were synthesized solvothermally in ethylene glycol at 200 °C. The UCNPs of both compositions showed an upconversion fluorescence emission characteristic of Tm(3+). The effects of the A cation, the particle size, the temperature, the pH, and the composition of the aqueous medium on the dissolution of the UCNPs were evaluated. The degree of dissolution was determined from the fraction of dissolved fluoride (F(-)) using potentiometry. Unexpectedly, the composition of aqueous media had the most significant effect on the dissolution of the UCNPs. The highest degree of dissolution and rate were measured for the phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), which can be explained by the formation of stable lanthanide compounds with phosphates. The degree of dissolution was much lower in water and in the phthalate buffer, which was attributed to the release of F(-) as a result of the hydrolysis of the UCNPs' surfaces.

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The clinical objective in the laser treatment of patients with specific dermatoses is to maximize thermal damage to the target chromophore while minimizing injury to the normal skin. Unfortunately, for some lesions, the threshold incident light dosage for epidermal injury can be very close to the threshold for permanent removal of the target chromophore, thus precluding the use of higher light dosages. An important method of overcoming the aforementioned problem is to selectively cool the most superficial layers of the skin. Although melanin absorption will result in heat production during laser exposure, cooling the epidermis can prevent its temperature elevation from exceeding the threshold for thermal injury. Spatially selective cooling can be achieved by active cooling using a cryogen spray or cold sapphire contact handpieces. These devices promote rapid and spatially selective epidermal cooling to low temperatures without affecting the target chromophore temperature before the laser pulse is delivered. Cooling has become an Integral part in the emerging discipline of laser dermatologic surgery. Attend almost any academic dermatology conference and you are likely to find many lectures that relate to cooling during dermatologic laser surgery. Although cooling in conjunction with laser therapy has become the clinical standard for many laser procedures, considerable controversy surrounds this methodology. We present herewith an overview of currently used techniques for active cooling of human skin and explore their advantages and disadvantages in relationship to specific dermatoses amenable to laser therapy.

Goal is to investigate how delivery nozzle design influences the cooling rate of cryogen spray as used in skin laser treatments. Cryogen was sprayed through nozzles that consist of metal tubes with either a narrow or wide diameter and two different lengths. Fast-flashlamp photography showed that the wide nozzles, in particular the long wide one, produced a cryogen jet (very small spray cone angle) rather than a spray '(cone angles of about 1 5°orhigher) and appeared to atomize the cryogen less finely than the narrow nozzles. We measured the cooling rate by spraying some cryogen on an epoxy-block with thermocouples embedded. The heat extraction rate of the wide nozzles was higher than that of the narrow nozzles. The results suggest that finely atomized droplets produced by the narrow nozzles do not have enough kinetic energy to break through a layer of liquid cryogen accumulated on the object, which may act as a thermal barrier and, thus, slow down heat extraction. Presumably, larger droplets or non-broken jets ensure a more violent impact on this layer and therefore ensure an enhanced thermal contact. The margin of error for the heat extraction estimate is analyzed when using the epoxy-block. We introduce a complementary method for estimating heat extraction rate ofcryogen sprays.

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