Low Level Laser Therapy LLLT Flashcards
(54 cards)
What is LLLT
Therapeutic application of low output laser for the treatment of disease and injury
Laser light is a form of what energy ?
Electromagnetic energy
Where can I find laser light on the electromagnetic spectrum
Between Infrared and visible spectra
Is laser superficial/deep? Thermal/nonthermal?
Laser is a superficial and nonthermal agent ( too low to produce heat)
The term laser is an acronym for :
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
What is light
Emission of electromagnetic waves made of photons traveling in space
Compared to other forms of light, what characteristics/properties make lasers different ?
Monochromatic
Collimated
Coherent
What is phototherapy
The use of lights, or photons for therapeutic purposes 
Common lights used for therapy are:
IR and UV
Are lasers in the infrared band visible to the human eye?
No
Lasers are classified into 4 major classes:
What are they?
What were they classified based on ?
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3a
Class 3b
Class 4
(Based on power output + exposure time)
What is meant by hazards
The potential risk of the lasers causing biological damage to the skin or eye (retina)
Class 1, 2, and 3a lasers
They have low power outputs ( < 5 mW)
Are not used for therapeutic purposes
Class 3b
Power output ranging from 5 to 500 mW
Can cause eye damage but doesn’t affect skin
Class 4 lasers
Power output > 500 mW
Can cause eye AND skin damage
History (just read)
What are the two laser categories
- what do they require
- what is the power output
- what is it used for
What is meant by monochromaticity?
What is the therapeutic advantage?
all photons accounting for the laser light have a single wave length and thus a single color
Advantage: absorption can be targeted at specific wavelength-dependent photoreceptor molecules called chromophores, varied within soft tissue
What is collimation?
What is the therapeutic advantage?
The ability of a laser beam not to diverge or spread with distance (the photons move in a parallel fashion, concentrating the beam of light)
Advantage : ability to be focused on a very small target area.
What is coherence?
What are the types of coherence?
How is coherence lost?
What is the therapeutic advantage?
Photons that make up a laser light travel in phase in both time and space with one another.
Temporal and spatial coherence
Coherence is lost immediately after the light gets absorbed by the skin, due to scattering and refraction.
No therapeutic advantage
Properties of light compared to laser light
Laser devices have 3 basic physical components
- Lasing medium (active medium)
- Resonance chamber
- Power supply
What is a lasing medium?
Provide examples
The material used to emit a laser light for which the laser is named
It is gas, liquid, or solid with excitable atoms
Examples:
HeNe
GaAlAs (diode)
What is a resonance chamber?
What is it made up of?
Which side is the beam of laser light emitted through ?
The cavity within the laser device that contains the active medium, which is activated or lased leading to the production of a beam of laser light.
It is made up of a sealed glass tube , housing the active medium and has a fully-reflective mirror at one end, and a semi-reflective mirror at the other end.
The beam of laser light is emitted through the semi-reflective mirror
