Laser diode bars from Oclaro perform drug delivery, tissue ablation for Pantec's laser epidermal platform

San Jose, CA--The 9xx series high-power laser diode bars from optical communications and laser solutions company Oclaro were selected by Pantec Biosolutions, a provider of epidermal medical applications, for use in its next-generation Precise Laser Epidermal System (P.L.E.A.S.E.) platform. Pantec says its P.L.E.A.S.E. platform enables easy, painless, and needle-free delivery of drugs, as well as safe tissue ablation for skin rejuvenation.

According to Pantec, the global aesthetic market, which includes tissue ablation, is expected to grow from a $4.4 billion market in 2010 to a $7.5 billion market in 2015; while the market for transdermal drug delivery is growing rapidly and is expected to be a multi-billion dollar market by 2015. Oclaro worked closely with Pantec to deliver a customized quasi-continuous-wave (QCW) sub-assembly laser diode solution that delivered the performance and reliability needed, at a price point that Pantec says will enable wide-spread adoption in the consumer space. Pantec's first Oclaro-based product--the P.L.E.A.S.E. Professional--is a tabletop system that will be used for both transdermal delivery and tissue ablation. This device will initially be sold in Europe with plans to bring the product into selected markets worldwide, starting in 2011.

"We partnered with Oclaro because it delivered the technology and reliable manufacturing excellence we needed, and also worked closely with us to design the best solution for our next generation P.L.E.A.S.E. products," said Thomas Bragagna, CTO at Pantec Biosolutions. Oclaro developed the conductively cooled 9xx nm laser diode bar primarily for QCW pumping of miniaturized solid state lasers, which is what Pantec required for its P.L.E.A.S.E platform. Oclaro's QCW operation enabled Pantec to develop a compact laser device due to its low cooling requirements, small footprint, and extremely high pulse power.

Oclaro laser diode bars feature a two-sided cooling setup of the 10x12x5 cubic millimeter small footprint diode assembly, which allows for output peak power levels as high as 320 W at 300 A drive current, 5 ms pulse duration and 10% duty cycle. The Er:YAG laser systems developed by Pantec are pumped between 0.1 and 10 ms pulse duration and 1-20% duty cycle, making them attractive for medical applications such as transdermal delivery of drugs from large peptides up to whole antibodies, since molecules of this mass can't penetrate passively into the dermis.

To deliver the highest level of reliability, the Oclaro high-power laser diodes feature the Oclaro E2 mirror passivation process, which protects the front facet of the bar against Catastrophic Optical Damage. In addition, the Telecom grade AuSn (gold tin) hard solder makes the product suitable for demanding industrial and defense applications in CW and hard-pulse operation mode.

Pantec Biosolutions AG (www.pantec-biosolutions.com) is a private medical technology company specialized in using laser microporation to deliver large molecular weight drugs into the epidermis for local or systemic uptake as well as various applications in dermatology.

SOURCE: Oclaro; http://investor.oclaro.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=578717