An efficacy and safety of eutectic mixture Lidocaine-Propitocaine (EMLP) cream, in long pulse alexandrite laser hair removal were investigated. Laser irradiation was carried out on one side where cream was applied, and also carried out on the other side where cream was not applied. Application of cream showed a significant decrease in pain in VAS and VRS. There were no adverse events caused by the cream application. Therefore it was indicated that EMLP cream is a useful local anesthetic in long pulse alexandrite laser hair removal.

There is an urgent need to develop an efficient strategy for treatment of drug-resistant prostate cancer. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is laser therapy using photosensitizer, is expected as a novel therapy for it because of its less invasiveness. Our group focused on non-virus vector (hemagglutinating virus of Japan envelope; HVJ-E) combined with protoporphyrin IX lipid. It has confirmed that HVJ-E has the ability of drug delivery and induction of cancer specific cell death. Porphyrus envelope which is HVJ-E containing PpIX lipid was developed as a novel photosensitizer. In this study, PDT effect and antitumor effect of Porphyrus envelope to hormone-antagonistic human prostate cancer cells (PC-3) were evaluated. In the result, PDT using Porphyrus envelope to PC-3 was very effective, and it was expected a novel therapy for drug-resistant prostate cancer.

Laser surgery has become essential for recent clinical ophthalmic practice. Based on technological developments of precise image analyses, clinical application of femtosecond laser technology has expanded from corneal refractive surgery to cataract surgery. This technology is becoming popular in developed countries, where already over 300,000 therapeutic cases have been performed, including Japan.

Cataract surgery using the femtosecond laser has allowed corneal and lens anterior capsule incisions with high reproducibility.The effectiveness of the technology is thought to be exhibited in premium intraocular lenses, including multifocal and/or toric intraocular lens.

There are two kinds of lasers for a corneal surgery. As for one, excimer laser which is ultraviolet ray’s laser, the other is femtosecond lasers which is the near-infrared light laser. Without involvement by heat denaturation and the impulse, we resect and cut a living cornea by photoablation, photodisruption exactly.

A cornea is clear tissue, the diameter is approximately 12 mm and the central thickness is about 500 μm. A cornea has two roles, one is the outer transparence surface and the other is a lens for optics. Treatment of the corneal opacity includes phototherapeutic keratectomy and keratoplasty, and the treatment of the corneal irregularity includes wavefront-guided corneal ablation and intracorneal ring segments.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT), initially introduced to Japan in 1997, has been able to visualize each retinal layer clearly using the commercialized Spectral Domain (SD) OCT. The newest device Swept Source (SS) OCT with 1050 nm light source and SD-OCT with some techniques currently can provide the beautiful images of the outer retinal layers including photoreceptors, vitreous, choroid, and even sclera in the posterior pole. These OCT images have been helpful to understand the pathophysiology of the various retinal, especially macular diseases. This literature might give the explanation of the example OCT images and the idea.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and other imaging modalities, such as scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO), fail to provide sufficiently detailed images of the photoreceptor microstructure, primarily due to aberrations in ocular optics. These aberrations can be compensated for by using imaging systems that incorporate adaptive optics (AO), including a wavefront sensor to measure the ocular aberrations and a deformable mirror or spatial light modulator to compensate for these ocular aberrations.

The addition of AO to imaging systems has permitted researchers in the identification of retinal nerve fiber bundles, blood flow, and photoreceptors. AO-SLO images showed abnormal cone mosaic patterns and reduced cone densities in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy, macular holes, fundus albipuntatus, and macular microhole; moreover, these abnormalities were associated with visual acuity loss. High-resolution imaging using AO-SLO enables the detection of microstructural abnormalities that cannot be observed through commercially available SLO or OCT; hence, enhancing our understanding of various retinal diseases.

Optos^®200Tx is an “ultra wide field” scanning Laser ophthalmoscope which can obtain image containing more than 80 % of ocular fundus by one shot. It allows us to record the findings of peripheral fundus. In addition, ultra wide field fluorescein angiography (FAG) and fundus autofluorescence (FAF) are able to be recorded by using this device. It enables us to study FAG and FAF in peripheral fundus, which we do not get by conventional methods. A lot of new findings were reported about FAG and/or FAF using Optos^®200Tx in many diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion, and age-related macular degeneration.

Dye Laser and/or Nd:YAG Laser are used for red inflammatory scars i.e. keloids and hypertrophic scars, and fractional lasers are used for skin colored-mature scars in mainstream usage. Indication of various lasers for scar / scar contracture prevention and treatment has been reported in recent years. However, it is important to plan large-scale high-quality clinical studies on especially Japanese population, and to continue discussions.

Spilus nevus and Becker’s nevus are commonly treated using a Q-switched ruby laser (QSRL). Spilus nevus with no smooth edge on the periocular or the cheek and Becker’s nevus resulted in improvement using QSRL only. (extensive fading in almost 60%) However, Spilus nevus located on an extremity or with a smooth edge tended to have higher average rates of recurrence after QSRL. (extensive fading in almost 20%). A combined laser therapy and maintenance therapy may therefore be used in the future to obtain a better response to treatment.

Currently the first choice of treatment for capillary malformation is the dye laser. In order to enhance the therapeutic effect of the laser for capillary malformation, it is important to start the treatment as early as possible with an infant at age zero. Dye laser treatment is more difficult in outpatients when the treatment is delayed and the therapeutic age of patients increases.

With increasing age, the area of the birthmark increases so that it takes more time and effort to treat the same site repeatedly. The thickness of the skin also increases and the efficacy rate decreases.

In this paper, we describe early treatment of capillary malformation with dye laser.

The dermal melanocytosis can be treated with the Q-switched laser (ruby, alexandrite, Nd:YAG) without scar formation. However, complications such as postinflammatory hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation are often recognized. For example, in the cases of nevus of Ota, as the number of the laser treatment increases, it is more likely to develop hypopigmentation. In the case of laser treatment of ectopic Mongolian spot, hypopigmentation is more frequently developed than other dermal melanocytosis and it occurs more in the non-exposed area. In the case of laser treatment of acquired dermal melanocytosis, postinflammatory hyperpigmentation occurs with high probability. Therefore, when performing laser treatment, it is important to understand the various responses of each disease to laser treatment.

Infantile hemangioma (IH) is one of the most frequently found benign vascular tumors. IH grows rapidly in a short period of time on infant, then they spontaneously regress over 7 years old. Therefore, IH is usually followed with a wait and see policy.

Recently, laser treatment for vascular lesions has been developed, and long pulsed dye laser (LPDL) and pulsed Nd:YAG laser have become available for the treatment of IH in the early period of infancy. Early treatment for IH with these laser devices can improve the cosmetic result by shortening the proliferative phase and expediting involution.