The Importance of Laser Power
​The greater the depth of the cells you are treating the more energy is needed to produce a therapeutic effect. By starting out with more energy at the skin surface treatment times are dramatically reduced compared with less powerful lasers.
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Determining the right amount of power to use for therapeutic or surgical use on the wide range of condition and animal sizers there are can be a complicated business. Luckily the K-LASER is built to simplify the process. TO get an understanding of what power is in relation to laser devices we will review a number of key concepts.
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Average Power
It is important to note that laser classification is solely intended to assess the potential damage to the eye and is not related to laser therapy itself. This safety classification is based solely on the AVERAGE POWER that a laser unit can output when used at its maximum power.
The laser classification system is as follows:​​
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Class IIIa: < 0.005W (less than 5 milliwatts)
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Class IIIb: < 0.5W (less then 500 milliwatts)
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Class IV: > 0.5W (anything more than 500 milliwatts)
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The maximum average power of a laser unit determines its real maximum power. Only professional Class IV lasers such as a K-LASER have the control to deliver both low power protocols an high power protocols required for effective therapeutic use.
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Peak Power (with SuperPulse Mode - SP)
Some equipment manufacturers frequently utilize extremely low average power diodes but claim high 'Peak Power' outputs using a SuperPulse Mode. However it should be noted that the 'Peak Power' of a device is very different to its 'Maximum Average Power'. The example given below demonstrates a low-powered 1W laser diode (1W) releasing a 15W peak power output for a very brief period (T-ON), while T-OFF is the period where nothing is emitted. In this scenario, the duty cycle is 6.7% (1/15th).
Although the Peak Power is 15W in SuperPluse mode, the average power is still only 1W, implying that the targeted tissue does not receive a significant amount of energy.
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Allows for deeper tissue penetration
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Reduces interaction with melanin in the skin
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Maintains high high average power over a standard SuperPluse Mode.
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Peak Power (with IntenseSuperPulse Mode - ISP)
The IntenseSuperPulse (ISP) mode is a high-average-power variation of the SuperPulse (SP) mode mentioned earlier. The advantages of ISP mode are as follows:
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Getting the correct laser dose
The appropriate dose for Photobiomodulation (PBM) varies between 0.5 to 12 joules/cm2, depending on the application and the area of the body being treated.
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For instance, when treating a painful lower back:
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The area to be treated would be 20 cm x 15 cm = 300 cm2
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The recommended dose for this area would be 8 joules/cm2
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The total energy required would then be 300 x 8 = 2,400 joules
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The energy delivered is calculated based on the AVERAGE POWER alone.
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Treatment time with a 0.005W laser: 2400J / 0.005W = 480,000s = over 133 hours
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Treatment time with a 0.5W laser: 2400J / 0.5W = 4800s = 80 minutes
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Continuous Wave (CW) vs Pulsed Wave (PW)
It is important to note that in real-life treatments, lasers are typically used in Pulsed Wave (PW) mode with a duty cycle of 50% (T-ON / T-OFF). Thus, the treatment time would be twice as long as the calculations above, as PW mode delivers half the energy of CW mode. As time is a crucial factor to consider in professional use, a more powerful laser is much more effective.
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Faster treatment and deeper penetration
Higher power K-Laser units offer practitioners the advantage of faster treatment and deeper tissue penetration. In Musculoskeletal cases, K-Laser treatment aims to saturate all the cells within the targeted zone with the appropriate amount of energy. This is not just limited to a point (acupuncture) or surface (wound treatment). However, the power remaining after 7 cm of depth in tissue can vary between 5% to 15% of the power applied at the surface due to several factors such as the wavelengths used, frequency, targeted area, and darkness of the skin. This is because the laser light gets scattered and absorbed by tissue along the way. Therefore, a higher-powered K-Laser unit can transfer more energy to deeper tissue.
