ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION One of the most controversial light-based technologies, first introduced for clinical studies in 1994 and cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in late 1995 as the PhotoDerm (ESC/Sharplan, Norwood, MA, now Lumenis, Santa Clara, CA), is the noncoherent filtered flashlamp intense pulsed light (IPL) source. It initially was launched
and promoted-as result of pressure from venture capital groups that funded its development in response to the perceived need for a new leg vein therapy-as a radical improvement over existing methods for elimination of leg telangiectasia. Another important feature that was recognized early on was the IPL’s ability to be used as a specific modality to minimize the possibility of purpura common to pulsed dye lasers (PDLs). In reality, the device was found to be of far greater utility for indications other than leg telangiectasias. The road to usability, reproducibility, and good results was a long one. It is ironic that it now is considered the gold standard for treatment of many of the signs of photoaging.
