Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, or laser devices, provide focused energy delivery to precise targets in the skin while minimizing collateral injury. Prior to 2012, Q-switched lasers delivering light energy at nanosecond wavelengths allowed for pulsed energy delivery that could target lesions such as sun spots, hyperpigmentation, melasma, nevus of Ota and other pigmented lesions to maximize destruction and fracture of the melanocytic components creating dyschromias in the skin while minimizing the thermal injury to surrounding normal tissue and skin which could result in post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. With the advent of even shorter pulse-width lasers, in the order of picoseconds instead of nanoseconds, the ability of deliver higher peak power density comes also with the ability to reduce the amount of photothermal injury due to the reliance of photoacoustic and photomechanical destruction of melanin into smaller particles for absorption by the lymphatic system of the skin.
Since being awarded FDA-approval in 2012 for their 755 nm PicoSure laser, Cynosure has continued to innovate and develop the next generation in pulsed picosecond laser technology with the PicoSure Pro, which captures the short pulse-width technology but with enhanced peak power delivery, allowing for more effective and efficient treatment of hyperpigmentation, age spots, solar lentigines, tattoo pigment removal, and other pigmented lesions.
