Acne and scar treatment by controlling laser penetration

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Candela Corporation proposes to develop a laser system for a non-ablative treatment of Acne and related scars. The treatment is based on producing a sub-surface zone of laser-induced thermal injury within the dermis while preserving the epidermis. A laser system will be constructed, permitting a user to control the depth of laser-induced injury to an optimal value. Such a control can be achieved by delivering the laser energy to skin via an optical element contacting the skin and by varying the laser incident angle. Preservation of the epidermis will be achieved by properly cooling the optical element. This technique could be applied also towards other non-ablative and ablative laser therapies and could potentially lead to new applications as well. The specific aims for Phase I are to construct an apparatus capable of delivering laser energy at various angles of incidence to the tissue through a contacting optical element and then to examine the effects of incident angles and various cooling parameters on the induced thermal injury characteristics and epidermis preservation. Successful completion of phase I research would lead to an SBIR Phase II with an evaluation of the procedures in an in-vivo animal models followed by human clinical trials.