What does laser mean?
The word laser is an acronym that stands for light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation.
What is special about laser light?
Laser light has several features that differentiate it from conventional light.
Coherence: The emitted photons are spatially and temporally in phase with one another.
Monochromaticity: The emitted energy is of a single wavelength.
Collimation: The waves travel parallel to one another.
High intensity: The number of photons emitted by a laser per unit area is much greater than that emitted by any other source of electromagnetic radiation.
Due to these special properties, lasers have enabled dermatologists to manage many conditions for which no effective treatment previously existed. Other conditions can be treated better with lasers than older methods.
Mole before laser ablation
Mole removed by laser surgery
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What is the carbon dioxide laser?
The carbon dioxide laser emits an invisible beam of light of 10,600 nm wavelength. The water in the tissues precisely absorbs this energy and is instantly converted from liquid to gas, creating a plume of steam and smoke. As the zone of thermal injury is very small, the carbon dioxide laser allows performance of very precise and delicate surgery.
What are the different modes in which the carbon dioxide laser can be operated?
The carbon dioxide laser can be used in the focused mode as a cutting instrument. In the defocused mode it is used to precisely evaporate tissue.
What are the indications for excision surgery with the carbon dioxide laser?
The carbon dioxide laser is used in the excision mode in the following conditions – anticoagulation, vascular tumor, vascular anatomic location, keloids, rhinophyma, malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, cardiac pacemaker, cardiac monitoring, perforation of cranial bone, blepharoplasty and nail surgery.
Papilloma before laser excision
Papilloma removed by laser surgery
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What are the conditions treated by the carbon dioxide laser in vaporization mode?
The carbon dioxide laser is used in the vaporizational mode to treat the following conditions – acne scars, actinic cheilitis, adenoma sebaceum, balanitis xerotica obliterans, basal cell carcinoma, chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis, digital mucous cyst, epidermal nevus, erythroplasia of Querat, granuloma faciale, lentigines, lichen sclerosus et atrophicus, lymphangioma circumscriptum, nail matricectomy, neurofibroma, nodular amyloidosis, ochronosis, porokeratosis, rhinophyma, steatocystoma, tattoo, trichoepithelioma, tricholemmoma, vascular lesions e.g. angiokeratoma, cherry angioma, pyogenic granuloma, telangiectasia and venous lake, vellus hair cyst, warts, xanthelasma and Zoon’s balanitis.