Title :
Laser skin resurfacing: a comparison study of erbium:YAG and CO2 and an overview of recently introduced and future approaches
Author :
Ross, E. Victor ; Khatri, Khalil ; Grevelink, Joop ; Anderson, And R Rox
Author_Institution :
Wellman Labs. of Photomedecine, Massachusetts Gen. Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Abstract :
To evaluate the efficacy of an erbium laser for treating photo-damaged skin, we compared an erbium and pulsed CO2 laser in a side by side trial in 21 patients. We examined gross and microscopic changes in patients immediately after treatment as well as 1, 2, 8, and 24 weeks postoperatively. Grossly, we followed erythema, swelling, time for re-epithelialization, and wrinkle improvement. Microscopically, we examined depth of ablation and thermal damage on day 0, depth of necrosis on day 2, and thickness of the fibroplasia zone at 6 months. Our study showed that similar cosmetic results could be achieved by erbium and CO2 lasers; however, the gross and microscopic findings suggest a different cascade of microscopic events from injury to the final zone of fibroplasia
Keywords :
biological effects of laser radiation; biothermics; carbon compounds; gas lasers; laser ablation; laser applications in medicine; radiation therapy; skin; solid lasers; 1 week; 2 day; 2 week; 24 week; 6 month; 8 week; CO2; Er:YAG laser; YAG:Er; YAl5O12:Er; cosmetic results; depth of ablation; erythema; fibroplasia zone thickness; gross changes; injury; laser skin resurfacing; microscopic changes; necrosis; photo-damaged skin; postoperative; pulsed CO2 laser; re-epithelialization; side by side trial; swelling; thermal damage; treatment; wrinkle improvement; Character generation; Dermis; Erbium; Erbium-doped fiber lasers; Hemorrhaging; Injuries; Laser ablation; Laser theory; Skin; Wounds;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Annual Meeting, 1997. LEOS '97 10th Annual Meeting. Conference Proceedings., IEEE
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3895-2
DOI :
10.1109/LEOS.1997.630573
