Patients commonly assume that lasers represent a fairly new technology. Many would be surprised, however, to learn that the first working laser was developed around 1960. Today's lasers still rely on the same principles and have much in common with the original laser. Lasers work by a basic concept-they produce an intense beam of light that travels in one direction and imparts so much energy to a target, that the target vaporizes. Properties such as the wavelength of light, energy of the beam, and exposure time differentiate lasers and allow them to be used for various types of treatment.
Laser Basics
Let's say you want to have small blood vessels removed from the bridge of your nose. One of several lasers would allow your physician to specifically remove blood vessels and only blood vessels from that area. Aside from the removed blood vessels, the skin of your nose would be unchanged. This specificity of a laser to address a particular problem (blood vessels, in this case) is what gives lasers a great advantage in many different types of treatments.
Every laser has a target. The target of the laser in the example above is hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells. The laser imparts great energy to the hemoglobin, causing changes in its form, and ultimately causes the blood vessel to disappear. A different laser could target melanin, which is the tan- or brown-colored pigment found in skin. A laser that targets melanin would be useful for removing dark marks commonly...
Copyright 2009 NBC Health
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