Following the FACE meeting at the end of June, we have now committed to a number of new systems, the first to go live being our new CORE Fractional Co2 resurfacing system from Syneron.

The CORE Fractional Co2 is a carbon dioxide laser with a wavelength of 10,600 (an invisible, far infra-red energy) which is strongly absorbed by water in the epidermis - and if we work deep enough, in the upper levels of the dermis.

The laser works by delivering short pulses of energy that interact with the skin in an ablative way - that is, the light is not absorbed purely as heat but as a hot shock-wave that blasts (ablates) tissue away from the surface, effectively removing a carefully calculated volume of tissue from the skin surface.

This effect can be used to remove discreet areas of tissue, for example to resurface scar tissue or to remove a range of benign surface lesions, such as seborrheic keratosis. Alternatively, the laser can deliver fractional (pepper pot) and whole surface treatments as 'skin-resurfacing', or as discreet treatments for deep lines and wrinkles - and especially deep 'lipstick bleed lines', where either a portion or indeed the entire epidermis can be removed, allowing regeneration - and rejuvenation - from the dermis. This treatment has been available for many years but the CORE laser is a significant advance on older technology in terms of the degree of control and the number of pre-programmed patterns that can be delivered.

We have been using similar technology (Pixel - fractional Erbium:YAG resurfacing) for 4 years now with good - but limited - results. The CORE laser is being brought in to replace the Pixel and to further extend and improve the range of treatments that we are able to deliver.

Depending on the purpose, the treatment is delivered under some form of skin anaesthetic, and depending on the depth of effect, down-time is limited to redness and swelling, with make-up applicable within 3-7 days (where in traditional resurfacing, this could be as long as three weeks). We have a great deal of experience here in Fractional Erbium treatments, aggressive peels and lasers in general (we have been using lasers for 18 years now and evaluated old Co2 technology in 1997) but only now do we believe that the technology has advanced sufficiently to allow us to deliver the benefits but without the risks.

Jo Martin and Harris Haseeb - one of our plastic surgeons who is particularly interested in skin cancers and other, benign lesions have both trained on the new laser and will be developing the service over the following months, with more than 50 procedures having already been delivered.

Jo will be blogging about her new laser so follow the links to our blog to find out more...