Kelly Fleischer| Laser, Light Energy, and
Radiofrequency Therapy- Advanced- 6.5
Hours- Masters- Complete
Kelly Fleischer
Laser, Light Energy, and Radiofrequency Therapy- Advanced- 6.5 Hours- Masters-
Complete
Outline:
A. Why Study Laser, Light Energy, and Radiofrequency Therapy?
• The latest trends are laser and light therapy. If these devices are misused they
can cause injury to the client and the practitioner
• Customers want them in a safe and professional manner
• Without proper knowledge of “how” the deices work, the risk of problems
increases and the desired results can decrease. Even if you do not perform laser
and light treatments yourself, there is a good chance that your clients will ask
questions or will have had some type of treatment done elsewhere. As a skin care
professional, you must stay informed of new technology and change in order to
offer your clients the best solutions for and advice about skin care.
B. The History of Light and Energy Devices
• The creation of medical light sources began with Albert Einstein in 1916,
Einstein understood how sunlight was emitted and, theoretically, how humans
could create and harness a brilliant form of light energy
• However, it wasn’t until 1958 that Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes
were able to translate Einstein’s mathematical equation into the creation of a
maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) at Bell
Laboratories
• The first human-made light was microwave-drive
• In 1960 the first visible laser was created by Theodore Maiman of the
Hughes Research Laboratories from a ruby crystal. This pure form of light
was used
initially in dermatology
• LASER means light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
C. Physics
• Most lasers and light sources are devices that when applied appropriately will
produce positive results to the skin
• Ablation; which is the vaporization, cutting, or removal of a portion (or all) of the
epidermis and the dermis. Estheticians cannot ablate tissue
• This chapter discusses lasers that deliver visible results without damaging
or vaporizing the epidermis; these lasers are referred to as nonablative.
• Nosablative devices include; radiofrequency devices, light-emitting diodes
(LEDs), intense pulsed light (IPL)
,D. The Electromagnetic Spectrum of Radiation
• Electromagnetic radiation is made up of three different types of energy:
- Visible light
- Invisible infrared light
- Invisible ultraviolet light; radiation refers to all visible, invisible,
infrared, and ultraviolet forms of energy
• Infrared light, and invisible ultraviolet light make up what is known as
the electromagnetic spectrum of radiation
• Sunlight is a beam or a ray of light that is made up of a variety of invisible
and visible forms of electromagnetic energy, commonly called EM energy
• EM energy is reflected or emitted from objects and travels through space in
electrical and magnetic waves. EM energy is composed of small particles
called photons
• Photons travel at the speed of light in the form of a wave. A wavelength is
measured from the distance of the top of one wave (the amplitude) to the top of
the next
• Wavelength distances can be measured in nanometers (nm) or micrometers (um)
E. Properties of Laser Light
• Normal white light that from a flashlight or lightbulb, is made up of a multitude of
visible and invisible infrared wavelengths that are “out of sync” and traveling in
different directions.
• Theses multiple wavelengths merge ad create white light that is “out of phase”,
is diffuse in nature, and can quickly disperse in space within a short distance
• Coherent light, a state in which all light waves are traveling in the direction
and in unison. Laser photons are in phase in both time and space and act
together as single units of energy
• Monochromatic light; laser light is made up of one wavelength and one
color, whether visible or not.
• The color of the light is important because the color determines the type of
chromophore in the body tissue that will be affected by the light
• Collimated Light; collimated means “parallel”
• Laser photons are parallel to each other and can travel long distances before
terminating
• Chromophores; are the target in the epidermis or dermis that absorbs the
laser beams thermal energy causing the desired injury or destruction of
the material
• Common body chromophores; water, blood, collagen, protein, and pigment
F. Tissue Effects
• Absorption; causes the desired ablation of the material
• Reflection; beams reflect off a shiny surface and cause surface skin burns
, • Transmission; laser light can be transmitted through tissue, fluid, or glass
• Scatter; the deeper the transmission, the more scattering of light occurs
• What is oxyhemoglobin?
- hemoglobin in red blood cells that has been oxygenated, a protein in
red blood cells
G. Creation of Laser light
• Every laser device has a tube or optical resonator that contains a medium
responsible for the creation of light, usually a gas, solid, or liquid.
• Lasers are usually named in reference to the medium
• As gas medium can be made up of argon, carbon dioxide, or helium neon
gas particles
• A liquid medium may be made of organic liquid or dye
• A solid medium is usually a synthetic crystal made up of yttrium aluminum
gas (YAG) particles and doped with certain elements holmium electrons
H. Selective Photothermolysis
• Selective photothermolysis is a theory created in 1980. The theory refers
to selective absorption of a specific light by a targeted chromophore
• The light (photo) delivers thermal energy to a selected chromophore that
is engineered to cause destruction, or lysis, of the designated target
• Achieved by selecting an appropriate wavelength at the right exposure time and
pulse duration with sufficient energy or fluence
• Thermal relaxation time (TRT) is the amount of time it takes for a
chromophore, blood vessel, melanin or hair follicle to lose more than 50%
of the heat that was produced by a laser
• The amount of heat produced depends on the pulse duration, pulse duration is
measured by nanoseconds or milliseconds
• What is fluence?
- fluence refers to the energy of the pulsed laser beam. It is expressed in
joules (units of energy) per square centimeter and refers to energy
x time
• Cooling the skin, skin cooling is necessary and integral part of laser therapy
• Lowering the skin temperature allows safe application of more energy to
the target without excessive trauma to the epidermis
• Modes of cooling can happen during the treatment and consist of:
- Precooling
- Parallel cooling
- Post-cooling
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