Fluorescent-based optical device shows promise for treating nasal spider veins

A fluorescent-based optical device that involves an investigational technology called total reflection amplification of spontaneous emission of radiationis (TRASER) was used in a study looking at nasal telangiectasias (spider veins), which are difficult to treat.

The TRASER device, which enables tunability of a narrow spectrum of light, can be configured with the ability to provide a wide range of parameters based on the condition that is targeted. In the nasal telangiectasias study, led by Paul M. Friedman, MD, director of the Dermatology & Laser Surgery Center in Houston, TX, participants had greater than 75% improvement after their one and three-month follow-ups.

TRASER is not a laser or an intense pulsed light source (IPL), both of which are limited by the ability to independently vary parameters such as wavelength. Elizabeth R.C. Geddes, MD, a dermatologist in practice with Dr. Friedman at the Dermatology & Laser Surgery Center, explains that because TRASER offers the characteristic of being able to tune a very narrow spectrum of wavelength anywhere in the visible light range, it can treat a number of conditions very efficiently.

Geddes presented the team's abstract, titled "TRASER: Preliminary Results from a Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Nasal Telangiectasias," at the 2016 Annual Conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), which was held in Boston, MA. The work was awarded the Best of Cutaneous Applications Abstract Session Award.

Full details of the work now appear in the journal Lasers in Surgery and Medicine; for more information, please visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lsm.22651.