ABSTRACT
References 372
1. THE INTENSE PULSED LIGHT DEVICE
1.1. Introduction
One of the most controversial light-based technologies, first introduced for clinical studies
in 1994, and cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in late 1995 as the
PhotodermTM (ESC/Sharplan, Norwood, MA), is the noncoherent filtered flashlamp intense pulsed light (IPL) source. It was initially launched and promoted as a radical
improvement over existing methods for elimination of leg telangiectasias and as a
specific modality to minimize the possibility of purpura common to pulsed dye lasers
(PDLs). In reality, the device turned out to be of greater utility for other indications
than leg telangiectasias, and the road to usability, reproducibility and good results was a
long one. The initial claims of less purpura than a PDL laser have remained valid and have
been confirmed by numerous investigators (1-10). Present-day indications have expanded
far beyond the initial ones, however, to include hair removal, facial telangiectasias,
pigmentation, poikiloderma of Civatte, scars, and most recently, the new domain of
nonablative facial rejuvenation or photorejuvenation (1-3,11,12).
