Ablative and Thermal Effects of Er:YAG Laser on Human Tissue

Abstract

The Er:YAG laser is known as a premier tool to precisely ablate superficial skin layers in dermatology while inducing minimal thermal damage to the surrounding tissue. This is due to its wavelength of 2.94 mm which corresponds to the peak of the water molecule absorption spectrum, resulting in an extremely shallow skin penetration depth (around 3 µm). In some applications however, controlled heating of the deeper skin layers is beneficial. In aesthetic surgery, for example, coagulation of deeper collagen fibers is assumed to attribute to removal of wrinkles and a more youthful skin appearance.