Older lasers use different colored dyes to achieve the various light wavelenths needed to penetrate the skin and disperse color. But the dye lasers produce a beam of light at such a high energy level that they often cause trauma to both the treated area and the surrounding skin. That trauma results in bruising and, in some cases, scarring. The crystal lasers are more efficient than dye lasers in one of two ways. Other crystal lasers produce more rapid pulses of light that shorten the amount of time the laser beam is focused on the skin.
Recovery is important because it minimizes the spread of heat and thus the chance of scarring.
Three of the four lasers in the new system use this Q-switched mechanism, Clark said. The shorter wavelength targets a different part of the blood vessel so that instead of exploding red blood cells, it clots off the blood vessel. The dye laser, on the other hand, produces light energy at such a high level that it causes red blood cells to explode. The red blood cells then leak outside the blood vessel, creating a bruise. For patients, the benefits of the VersaPulse Laser System are numerous.