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SmartXide Dot:
CO2 Body Resurfacing Laser
The SmartXide Dot is the most important innovation in ablative laser technology since the introduction of the CO2 laser, the “gold standard” in skin resurfacing technology since 1991. With the new SmartXide Dot laser, CO2 laser ablation is no longer limited to the face. SmartXide Dot offers far greater control over treatment intensity, which allows it to be used on almost any area of the body. SmartXide Dot technology offers results approaching those of traditional CO2 laser resurfacing, but with complete recovery in only a few days. Over the next few years, SmartXide Dot will set a new standard for resurfacing and become the treatment of choice for reversing the effects of aging on the skin.
The SmartXide Laser
The great promise of SmartXide Dot is a 30 watt, carbon dioxide based laser with a 10,600 nm wavelength. A scanning head delivers the laser impulse in one of several available patterns. This allows Dr. Johnson to individualize the treatment area for each patient. Within each pattern, 150-700 tiny dots are created, each about 300 microns (0.003 millimeters) in size. The space between each dot, the depth of each dot, and the length of time the laser stays on each dot (dwell time) are all variable, and are adjusted for each patient and each area of treatment.
The SmartXide Dot laser is adjusted to maximize benefit for different types of treatments. Superficial problems like pigment disorders or mild wrinkles are treated with close dots. Deeper problems such as scars or deep skin creases are treated with more distance between dots and fewer overall dots, greater depth and longer dwell times. Patients whose primary concern is overall skin laxity and general wrinkling are treated between the two extremes. Treatments off the face generally use similar distance between the dots and depth settings as the face, but dwell times approximately one half the settings of facial treatments.
Compared to other ablation lasers
The size of the treatment dots varies from 120 to 1,250 microns, but average dot size is 300 microns. Some other laser units offer heads with different spot sizes (Lumenis Active FX). SmartXide Dot offers surgical heads that allow the device to be used for surgical incisions as well as skin resurfacing applications. Unlike Fraxel Repair, which features continuous tracking across the treatment area, SmartXide Dot allows various patterns are are lined up to complete the treatment. Other treatments which feature this approach include Quanta MIXto and Lumenis FX. Unlike most competing technologies, SmartXide Dot does allow a complete ablation option.