At the University of Michigan (USA) they have designeda laser to melt fat without burning surrounding tissues, which could be used for the treatment ofacne. Its 1,708 nanometer infrared beam takes advantage of a unique wavelength that fat can absorb more efficiently than water. That is why the laser can penetrate skin and muscle with minimal damage in its path to reach thedeeper accumulations of fat and destroy them, explains Mohammed Islam, professor of Electrical Engineering and Internal Medicine, and co-author of the article published in the journalLasers in Surgery and Medicine.
The laser could treat acne if focusedtowards the sebaceous glands that produce fat. “Normally it is very difficult to penetrate deep enough into the skin due to water absorption, but we select a wavelength that is suitable for fats,” Islam clarifies. The new laser, whose generator has thesize of a DVD player, it can reach glands that are more than 1.5 millimeters under the skin.
To prevent burns, the researchers learned that the skin must first be cooled before treating it, and they conducted the experiments on human tissue samples that had been excised due to their proximity to non-melanoma skin cancers. Regarding lasers, the multidisciplinary work of engineers, doctors and biologists allowed to build a laser generator that “is compact and inexpensive and has a real chance of being well placed on the market”.
