Experimental Traser Device Could Be Laser's Replacement

DANA POINT, CALIF. – A new therapeutic light source being developed in Israel may ultimately replace many of the aesthetic laser devices currently used.

The device, known as Traser (Total Reflection Amplification of Spontaneous Emission of Radiation), "is not a laser and it’s not an intense pulsed light," Dr. Christopher Zachary said at the SDEF Summit in Aesthetic Medicine sponsored by Skin Disease Education Foundation (SDEF).

"No photons come from the flash lamps. It’s one device with many wavelengths. It’s tunable, has a high peak power, and has variable pulse duration from 0.45 to 100 milliseconds," he said.

The Traser contains a "dye cell" (an internally reflecting body that hosts a fluorescent dye), one rear mirror, flashlamps above and below, an output waveguide, and a reflector cavity that houses the device. The Traser is the brainchild of Morgan Gustavsson, a pioneer of intense pulsed-light technology. It was first described in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS ONE (2012;7:e35899 [doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035899]).

"It’s one device with many wavelengths. It’s tunable, has a high peak power, and has variable pulse duration from 0.45 to 100 milliseconds," Dr. Christopher Zachary said.

Unlike a laser, the Traser has no optical resonator, no output coupler, no stimulated emission, no filters, and no filter technology. "Photons from the flash lamps excite fluorescent dye material and spontaneously emit a different narrow spectrum of light," explained Dr. Zachary, professor and chair of the dermatology department at the University of California, Irvine, who plans to begin studying the device this summer.

"This traps 45%-61% of the light that’s generated, and the photons propagate axially along the length of the dye cell in both directions. The mirror redirects the light forward, and light is passively coupled out at the distal end of the cell," he said.

The dyes used to date are water soluble, "and do not require hazardous solvents or additives," wrote Dr. Zachary and Mr. Gustavsson, who is with Rockport Consulting Services in Newport Beach, Calif., in the PLoS One article. "When required, [the dyes] are reclaimed by a filter loop, which in less than a minute can completely eliminate the dye and purify the circulating water. This water is not only reconstituted with new dyes within the Traser circulation cavity, but is also used to cool the device."

Changing the dye enables the user to produce UVA, blue, green, orange, red, and near-infrared wavelengths, which allows for wide variability in a single device. The fluorescent dyes used and described in the PLoS ONE article include pyrromethene 556, rhodamine 590, and sulforhodamine 640 chloride. "The wavelength that comes out is dependent on the dye that you use and its concentration," Dr. Zachary said at the meeting. "It’s a very manipulable yet sensitive system."

In theory, the Traser "could replace the KTP laser and could be very good for individual blood vessels, for instance, or a rosaceous blush. It could replace the ruby laser as a hair-removal device, or the pulsed dye laser for port wine stains – all from a single device. All you do is change the dye. I love the science of this: It’s simple but has all the characteristics of a device that is going to be very effective. I’d like to see some studies conducted in animals and in humans."

He concluded his remarks by predicting that the TRASER will probably be less costly than a laser, and "highly tunable and with multiple pulse durations, and one that could replace three to five lasers in your office."

Dr. Zachary said that he had no relevant financial conflicts to disclose. SDEF and this news organization are owned by Elsevier.

DANA POINT, CALIF. – A new therapeutic light source being developed in Israel may ultimately replace many of the aesthetic laser devices currently used.

The device, known as Traser (Total Reflection Amplification of Spontaneous Emission of Radiation), "is not a laser and it’s not an intense pulsed light," Dr. Christopher Zachary said at the SDEF Summit in Aesthetic Medicine sponsored by Skin Disease Education Foundation (SDEF).

"No photons come from the flash lamps. It’s one device with many wavelengths. It’s tunable, has a high peak power, and has variable pulse duration from 0.45 to 100 milliseconds," he said.

The Traser contains a "dye cell" (an internally reflecting body that hosts a fluorescent dye), one rear mirror, flashlamps above and below, an output waveguide, and a reflector cavity that houses the device. The Traser is the brainchild of Morgan Gustavsson, a pioneer of intense pulsed-light technology. It was first described in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS ONE (2012;7:e35899 [doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035899]).

"It’s one device with many wavelengths. It’s tunable, has a high peak power, and has variable pulse duration from 0.45 to 100 milliseconds," Dr. Christopher Zachary said.

Unlike a laser, the Traser has no optical resonator, no output coupler, no stimulated emission, no filters, and no filter technology. "Photons from the flash lamps excite fluorescent dye material and spontaneously emit a different narrow spectrum of light," explained Dr. Zachary, professor and chair of the dermatology department at the University of California, Irvine, who plans to begin studying the device this summer.

"This traps 45%-61% of the light that’s generated, and the photons propagate axially along the length of the dye cell in both directions. The mirror redirects the light forward, and light is passively coupled out at the distal end of the cell," he said.

The dyes used to date are water soluble, "and do not require hazardous solvents or additives," wrote Dr. Zachary and Mr. Gustavsson, who is with Rockport Consulting Services in Newport Beach, Calif., in the PLoS One article. "When required, [the dyes] are reclaimed by a filter loop, which in less than a minute can completely eliminate the dye and purify the circulating water. This water is not only reconstituted with new dyes within the Traser circulation cavity, but is also used to cool the device."

Changing the dye enables the user to produce UVA, blue, green, orange, red, and near-infrared wavelengths, which allows for wide variability in a single device. The fluorescent dyes used and described in the PLoS ONE article include pyrromethene 556, rhodamine 590, and sulforhodamine 640 chloride. "The wavelength that comes out is dependent on the dye that you use and its concentration," Dr. Zachary said at the meeting. "It’s a very manipulable yet sensitive system."

In theory, the Traser "could replace the KTP laser and could be very good for individual blood vessels, for instance, or a rosaceous blush. It could replace the ruby laser as a hair-removal device, or the pulsed dye laser for port wine stains – all from a single device. All you do is change the dye. I love the science of this: It’s simple but has all the characteristics of a device that is going to be very effective. I’d like to see some studies conducted in animals and in humans."

He concluded his remarks by predicting that the TRASER will probably be less costly than a laser, and "highly tunable and with multiple pulse durations, and one that could replace three to five lasers in your office."

Dr. Zachary said that he had no relevant financial conflicts to disclose. SDEF and this news organization are owned by Elsevier.

DANA POINT, CALIF. – A new therapeutic light source being developed in Israel may ultimately replace many of the aesthetic laser devices currently used.

The device, known as Traser (Total Reflection Amplification of Spontaneous Emission of Radiation), "is not a laser and it’s not an intense pulsed light," Dr. Christopher Zachary said at the SDEF Summit in Aesthetic Medicine sponsored by Skin Disease Education Foundation (SDEF).

"No photons come from the flash lamps. It’s one device with many wavelengths. It’s tunable, has a high peak power, and has variable pulse duration from 0.45 to 100 milliseconds," he said.

The Traser contains a "dye cell" (an internally reflecting body that hosts a fluorescent dye), one rear mirror, flashlamps above and below, an output waveguide, and a reflector cavity that houses the device. The Traser is the brainchild of Morgan Gustavsson, a pioneer of intense pulsed-light technology. It was first described in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS ONE (2012;7:e35899 [doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035899]).

"It’s one device with many wavelengths. It’s tunable, has a high peak power, and has variable pulse duration from 0.45 to 100 milliseconds," Dr. Christopher Zachary said.

Unlike a laser, the Traser has no optical resonator, no output coupler, no stimulated emission, no filters, and no filter technology. "Photons from the flash lamps excite fluorescent dye material and spontaneously emit a different narrow spectrum of light," explained Dr. Zachary, professor and chair of the dermatology department at the University of California, Irvine, who plans to begin studying the device this summer.

"This traps 45%-61% of the light that’s generated, and the photons propagate axially along the length of the dye cell in both directions. The mirror redirects the light forward, and light is passively coupled out at the distal end of the cell," he said.

The dyes used to date are water soluble, "and do not require hazardous solvents or additives," wrote Dr. Zachary and Mr. Gustavsson, who is with Rockport Consulting Services in Newport Beach, Calif., in the PLoS One article. "When required, [the dyes] are reclaimed by a filter loop, which in less than a minute can completely eliminate the dye and purify the circulating water. This water is not only reconstituted with new dyes within the Traser circulation cavity, but is also used to cool the device."

Changing the dye enables the user to produce UVA, blue, green, orange, red, and near-infrared wavelengths, which allows for wide variability in a single device. The fluorescent dyes used and described in the PLoS ONE article include pyrromethene 556, rhodamine 590, and sulforhodamine 640 chloride. "The wavelength that comes out is dependent on the dye that you use and its concentration," Dr. Zachary said at the meeting. "It’s a very manipulable yet sensitive system."

In theory, the Traser "could replace the KTP laser and could be very good for individual blood vessels, for instance, or a rosaceous blush. It could replace the ruby laser as a hair-removal device, or the pulsed dye laser for port wine stains – all from a single device. All you do is change the dye. I love the science of this: It’s simple but has all the characteristics of a device that is going to be very effective. I’d like to see some studies conducted in animals and in humans."

He concluded his remarks by predicting that the TRASER will probably be less costly than a laser, and "highly tunable and with multiple pulse durations, and one that could replace three to five lasers in your office."

Dr. Zachary said that he had no relevant financial conflicts to disclose. SDEF and this news organization are owned by Elsevier.