A long pulse alexandrite laser system for treating dermatological specimens is disclosed. The use of alexandrite allows operation in the near-infrared, specifically in a 50 nm range surrounding 755. Infrared in this range allows good penetration while still achieving an acceptable ratio of hemoglobin to melanin absorption. In operation, the laser generates pulses; having a durations between 5 and 100 msec and fluences between 10 and 50 J/cm.sup.2. A light delivery system is provided that transmits the laser light output pulse to dermatological targets of a patient. The system is also directed to a hair removal. Here, it is desirable to use an index-matching application on the skin sections to be treated, and a visual indicator is thermo- or photo-responsive or otherwise responsive to the laser light pulse to generate a visible change. This provides the operator with a record of those parts of the skin that have already been treated. Finally, the system is directed to a combined sclerotherapy and light treatment method and kit for unwanted veins. Substantially increased success, in the range of 90-100% has been achieved by implementing a dwell time of between 12 hours and 6 months between the light-based therapy and the sclerotherapy. Preferably, the light-based therapy is performed before the sclerotherapy. Success can be achieved by performing the sclerotherapy followed by the light-based therapy after the dwell time, however.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US97/05560, filed Apr. 4, 1997, entitled "Alexandrite Laser System For Treatment of Dermatological Specimens", by Horace W. Furumoto, et al., which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/015,082, filed Apr. 9, 1996, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by this reference in their entirety. This application is also a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/745,133, filed Nov. 7, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,072 the teachings of which are incorporated herein by this reference in their entirety, and a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/744,344, filed Nov. 7, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,479, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by this reference in their ertirety.
A laser treatment apparatus for performing treatment by irradiating a skin of a patient with a laser beam for treatment is disclosed. The apparatus includes: an irradiation unit including a laser source which emits a treatment laser beam and an irradiation optical system which delivers the treatment laser beam from the laser source to a treatment part of the skin to irradiate the part; a skin color detection unit including an imaging element which takes a picture image of the skin to be irradiated and an image processing section which detects a color of the imaged skin; a determination unit which determines an irradiation condition including at least one of output power of the treatment laser beam, irradiation time, irradiation density, and irradiation energy; a memory which stores data on the skin color detected by the detection unit and, in association therewith, data on the irradiation condition determined by the determination unit; and a control section which automatically determines an irradiation condition based on data on a skin color that is newly detected and the data having been stored in the memory, and transmits a control signal representative of the determined irradiation condition to the irradiation unit for control of irradiation of the treatment laser beam.
An apparatus for laser depilation according to the present invention uses a semiconductor laser diode, which is controlled in respect of its energy level, thereby permitting an economical, effective and safe cosmetic treatment. The power output of light of the semiconductor laser diode ranges from 5 to 1500 mW, and the peak wavelength ranges from 600 to 1600 nm. The controller of the semiconductor laser diode comprises pulsating power output control means and radiation period control means for setting a desired length of time for radiation. With these control means the energy level of the beam of light from the laser may be so controlled that a strong beam of light may be thrown for a relatively short time, or that a weak beam of light may be thrown for a relatively long time. Thus, hairs of different thickness and colors can be removed.
A method for generating a long effective pulse duration output beam of laser radiation using a flashlamp-excited dye laser is described. A spaced series of excitation pulses is electronically generated using a pulse forming module. The series of excitation pulses are provided to a flashlamp-excited dye laser, which generates an output beam of laser radiation. The output beam is comprised of a series of spaced micropulses of laser radiation which, in combination, provide a long effective pulse duration.
A laser depilation apparatus for performing depilation on a skin by irradiating the skin with a laser beam is disclosed. The apparatus includes a first irradiation unit including a laser source (21) for emitting a laser beam for depilation and a light delivery optical system (22, 23, 28, 2, 3) for forming the depilation laser beam emitted from the laser source into a small spot and delivering the beam into a first predetermined range (30) to irradiate the range; a first detection unit (6, 25) for detecting a position of a portion to be depilated within at least the first range; and a controller (20) for controlling the first irradiation unit to selectively irradiate the position of the portion to be depilated with the depilation laser beam based on detection result of the first detection unit.
A flashlamp-excited dye laser generating light pulses for therapy has a circulator which circulates a gain media through a dye cell. A controller coordinates operation by triggering flashlamps to excite the laser gain media while the circulator is circulating the gain media. This operation enables the effective generation of laser light pulses with a duration of at least one millisecond. The laser pulse is formed from many subpulses. If the flow velocity of dye solution is great enough such that the new solution enters the resonant cavity before the solutions in the cavity are substantially spent, subsequent subpulses are not quenched, enabling the generation of ultra-long effective pulses with high fluences. Specifically, longer effective pulses of up to 50 msec are attainable with energies of up to 50 Joules. These energies enable reasonable spot sizes, which makes the invention relevant to cutaneous as well as deep tissue therapy, for example.
