A laser platform incorporating a novel 524 nm laser pumped by a commercial hair removal laser effectively treats facial redness and lower‐extremity spider veins

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Treatment of vascular lesions is one of the main applications of cutaneous laser technology, while the other is laser hair removal. We present here a vascular laser pumped by a commercial hair removal laser. Study Design/Materials and Methods: A novel 524 nm vascular laser was designed using a 755 nm hair removal laser as a pumping source. This 524 nm vascular laser was used to treat facial redness and leg telangiectasias in 24 subjects. Four treatments were administered to the face at 4-6-week intervals and final photographs were taken 8 weeks following the final treatment, while two treatments were administered to lower-extremity spider veins at 2-month intervals with follow-up photographs 3 months following the final treatment. Blinded analysis of digital images was performed by two physicians not involved in the study. Results: Blinded evaluation of digital photographs revealed an average improvement score of 3.3 ± 1.7 (mean ± SEM) on a 0-10 scale for removing facial redness (p < 0.001), representing a 33% improvement. Leg veins improved an average of 51% corresponding to a score of 5.1 ± 2.0 (p < 0.001). Side effects were mild and limited to erythema, purpura, edema, and one instance of mild hyperpigmentation. Conclusions: This novel 524 nm laser is safe and effective for treating vascularity on the face and legs, and proves the ability to create a laser platform incorporating a hair removal laser which then can be used as a pumping source for the attached vascular laser module.

A new 532 nm, variable‐pulse‐structure, dual‐wavelength, KTP laser incorporating cryogen spray cooling, effectively treats rosacea

“…10 A high-energy 524 nm laser using contact cooling resulted in a 33% improvement treating facial redness 2 months after four treatments with no purpura noted in any subjects. 27 All the studies referenced above, and the current study, used evaluation of cross-polarized images to compare pretreatment and posttreatment results. Cross polarization significantly enhances the appearance of erythema and telangiectasias by removing any surface reflection, but this effect would be enhanced for both the pretreatment and posttreatment images.…”

“…27 That laser incorporated contact cooling and was not produced commercially. 27 The laser used in the current study can deliver a similar peak power of 3333 W, operates at 532 nm and incorporates cryogen spray cooling. Advantages of cryogen spray cooling versus contact cooling for treatment of rosacea or facial telangiectasias include the ability to treat without applying gel to the face, the ability to treat the angle of the nose easily without worrying about losing contact with the skin surface and thus reducing cooling when treating the sensitive nasal ala, the independence of repetition rate on cooling, and eliminating the risk of compressing vessels and thus removing the chromophore (blood) within the vessel as occurs with contact cooling.…”

“…In this study, we demonstrate that a high‐energy, 532 nm, variable‐pulse‐mode laser, delivering a maximal peak power of 3333 W, is safe and effective for treating diffuse redness and telangiectasias associated with rosacea. Rather than increasing the fluence after the first treatment to account for the reduction in the target chromophore, hemoglobin, that occurs with vessel clearance following each treatment as in previous studies with different vascular lasers, 27–29 in the current study we instead utilized the sub‐milli‐ and sub‐micro‐pulse settings to increase peak powers while using the same fluences and similar beam diameters. This had the tissue effect similar to increasing the fluence, but enabled the use of larger beam diameters to ensure even coverage and adequate depth of penetration of laser energy than were achievable if we raised the fluence enough to achieve the same clinical endpoints.…”

“…Lasers have been used to treat vascular lesions and unwanted blood vessels for over three decades, with an extremely good safety profile and very little risk of scarring 5–28 . The newer pulsed‐dye lasers (PDLs) and frequency‐doubled neodymium:yttrium‐aluminum‐garnet (ND:YAG) crystal coupled to a potassium‐titanyl‐phosphate (KTP) frequency‐doubling crystal emit 595 and 532 nm light, respectively, to selectively target hemoglobin within unwanted blood vessels 10–14,18–25,28 .…”

Introduction to 2022 special dermatology/plastic surgery issue

“…Ross, Rathyen, and Anderson 15 performed a pilot study to "recycle" diffusely reflected light using a novel reflective hemispherical dome to study the effect on the purpura response to 585 nm light. Bernstein et al 16 evaluate a novel 524 nm vascular laser designed using a widely available 755 nm hair removal laser as a pumping source. Laser-pumped lasers are a novel approach to the development of cost-effective laser platforms.…”