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History of lasers in dermatology.

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TLDR
In the 1950s, based on the theory of stimulating radiant energy published by Albert Einstein in 1916, the collaboration of physicists and electrical engineers, searching for monochromatic radiation to study the spectra of molecules, led to the invention of the first laser in 1960.
Abstract
In the 1950s, based on the theory of stimulating radiant energy published by Albert Einstein in 1916, the collaboration of physicists and electrical engineers, searching for monochromatic radiation to study the spectra of molecules, led to the invention of the first laser in 1960. Ophthalmologists and dermatologists were the first to study the biological effects and therapeutic possibilities of laser beams. The construction of new laser systems emitting energy at different wavelengths or with different durations, as well as the development of new concepts of the biomedical effects, led to its broad use in surgery in the treatment of vascular and pigmented lesions as well as cosmetic applications.

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Journal ArticleDOI

Biomedical Aspects of the Laser: The Introduction of Laser Applications Into Biology and Medicine

J. T. Helsper
- 27 May 1968 - 
TL;DR: The author is in charge of what I believe is the largest laser laboratory in which the biomedical aspects of laser in clinical medicine are being studied, and has summarized to some extent their total achievement.
Journal IssueDOI

Formulation and evaluation of post laser herbal cream

TL;DR: Herbal moisturizing cream facilitated re-pigmentation by stimulating melanocytic proliferation and removed stubborn scars and wrinkles.
Journal ArticleDOI

Safety and Efficacy of a Novel, Variable-Sequenced, Long-Pulsed, 532-nm and 1,064-nm Laser With Cryogen Spray Cooling for Pigmented and Vascular Lesions

TL;DR: In this paper , a prospective clinical trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of a variable-sequenced, long-pulsed, 532-nm and 1,064-nm laser with cryogen spray cooling (DermaV, Lutronic, South Korea).
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Stimulated Optical Radiation in Ruby

TL;DR: Schawlow and Townes as discussed by the authors proposed a technique for the generation of very monochromatic radiation in the infra-red optical region of the spectrum using an alkali vapour as the active medium.
Journal Article

Stimulated optical radiation in ruby

T. H. Maiman
TL;DR: Schawlow and Townes as discussed by the authors proposed a technique for the generation of very monochromatic radiation in the infra-red optical region of the spectrum using an alkali vapour as the active medium.
Journal ArticleDOI

Selective photothermolysis: precise microsurgery by selective absorption of pulsed radiation

TL;DR: Hemodynamic, histological, and ultrastructural responses are discussed and a simple, predictive model is presented, showing selective damage to cutaneous microvessels and melanosomes within melanocytes after selectively absorbed optical radiation pulses.
Book

Infrared and optical masers

TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that by using a resonant cavity of centimeter dimensions, having many resonant modes, maser oscillation at these wavelengths can be achieved by pumping with reasonable amounts of incoherent light.

Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung

TL;DR: In this paper, the spectral distribution curve of temperature radiation was shown to be similar to the velocity distribution of the electromagnetic spectrum of a single photon, and the formal similarity of spectral distribution curves to Maxwell's velocity distribution curve was revealed.
Related Papers (5)
Frequently Asked Questions (14)
Q1. What contributions have the authors mentioned in the paper "History of lasers in dermatology" ?

Geiges et al. this paper presented a history of the use of laser technology in dermatology. 

In 1996, the erbium (Er):YAG laser with a very short wavelength of 2,940 nm allowed a more superficial vaporization of tissue and was used together with CO2 lasers for skin resurfacing. 

The first attempt to minimize this nonspecific tissue injury involved making the continuous- wave lasers discontinuous or quasi- continuous by using a mechanical shutter to interrupt the beam of light. 

The ruby laser was ineffective when used as an optical scalpel for cutting or coagulation, and when using high- energy pulses the effect became unpredictable because of cavitations (vapor bubbles). 

He expected the laser to bring substantial benefits to the treatment of skin cancer: ‘Because of the accessibility and color, laser surgery can be used extensively in the field of skin cancer. 

The medical specialists who were already treating diseases with sunlight and technical light sources were also the first to carry out biomedical research with lasers. 

In dermatology, the treatment of skin diseases with light has a long tradition – e.g. lupus vulgaris with the Finsen lamp in 1899, wound healing and rickets with artificial UV light sources afterHistory of Lasers in Dermatology 31901, and psoriasis with the combination of light and tar in 1925. 

In 1960, he presented the first functional optical ruby maser excited by a xenon flash lamp to produce a bright pulse of 693.7 nm, deep red light of about a 1- ms duration and a power output of about a billion watt per pulse [14]. 

Although the essential ideas for constructing a laser were known around 1930, it was not before the early 1950s that physicists and electrical engineers began to collaborate with the research on monochromatic radiation of constant amplitude at very small wavelengths studying the microwave and radio frequency spectra of molecules. 

In 1961, Fred J. McClung and Robert W. Hellwarth introduced the quality- switching (Q- switching) technique to shorten the pulse length to nanoseconds with the use of an electro- optical shutter that permitted the storage and subsequent release of a peak power up to gigawatts of energy [15, 16]. 

The ammonia beam maser itself was not particularly useful as its operation was limited to the resonant frequency of the ammonia molecule and could only be used at barely detectable power levels [1]. 

In the 1980s, the pulsed ruby laser was commercialized in Japan for the treatment of tattoos and pigmented lesions, while being abandoned in Europe and the USA where tattoo removal was performed by CO2 laser vaporization [27]. 

One year after Maiman had presented the first ruby laser, ophthalmologists using xenon lamps for retinal photocoagulation published on ocular lesions experimentally produced in a rabbit by an optical maser [17]. 

Theodore Maiman was enthusiastic about the first laser he constructed, but regarded it as ‘a solution looking for a problem’ [1].