Palomar Breaks New Ground in Ablative Treatments
According to Dr. Seckel, a private practitioner in Peabody, Mass., the Lux2940 Fractional treatments use microbeams. “The beams penetrate deeply enough to stimulate new collagen formation with much less recovery time than CO2 lasers,” he said. “The older CO2 lasers would vaporize a whole patch of skin layer by layer, then the damaged skin would heal from the remaining sweat glands in the deeper parts of the skin. Since the healthy tissues were deeper in the skin and far from the damaged tissue, healing time was significant. With the Lux2940 Fractional on the other hand, the microbeams leave untreated bridges of skin between the columns, resulting in much quicker healing. Downtime is reduced from two weeks with the CO2 laser to three or four days with the Lux2940 Fractional.” The histological analysis, conducted by Zeina Tannous, M.D., shows that these micro-columns close within twelve hours and are covered with intact epidermis, thus minimizing the risk of complications such as scarring, infection, or long-term pigmentation changes.
Dr. Khatri, a dermatologist and former clinical associate at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, Mass.), added that the Lux2940 Fractional delivers micro-columns of ablation which are narrower than those of other fractional devices. “Such fractional micro-ablation allows heating of deeper tissues, such as scars and deep wrinkles, more safely than traditional resurfacing by bulk heating,” he said. “Healing occurs quickly in the tissue between the microscopic columns of ablation instead of in large ablated areas.” In the Lux2940 Fractional clinical trials, patients were treated without any pre- or post-operative supplemental pain medication, much different from traditional laser skin resurfacing. “Patient comfort during treatment is increased, downtime is reduced to three to four days, and efficacy seems comparable to that of an ablative CO2 laser device,” continued Dr. Khatri. “Additionally, with the Lux2940 Fractional, the adjacent thermal damage around the columns coagulates smaller, superficial blood vessels, prohibiting bleeding as compared to traditional erbium treatments.”
In clinical trials, Dr. Seckel used the Lux2940 Fractional primarily to remove wrinkles and improve skin texture. “Most recent lasers try to remove wrinkles non-ablatively, in which the laser energy goes deep into the dermis and stimulates new collagen formation,” he said. “They do not remove dead skin and surface wrinkles, and traditional ablative CO2 lasers provide good results but downtime is long. Treatment with the Lux2940 Fractional offers similar efficacy in less downtime and less inflammation.” Read more click here
