Intense pulsed light

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Intense pulsed light (IPL) is a technology used by cosmetic and medical practitioners to perform various skin treatments for aesthetic and therapeutic purposes, including hair removal, photorejuvenation (e.g. the treatment of skin pigmentation, sun damage, and thread veins) as well as to alleviate dermatologic diseases such as acne. IPL is increasingly used in optometry and ophthalmology as well, to treat evaporative dry eye disease due to meibomian gland dysfunction. IPL is also used for home based hair removal. The technology uses a high-powered, hand-held, computer-controlled linear flashlamp to deliver an intense, visible and near infra-red, broad-spectrum pulse of light, generally in the range of 400 to 1200 nm. Various cut-on filters are commonly used to selectively filter out shorter wavelengths, especially potentially damaging ultraviolet and longer wavelength infra-red light. The resulting light has a spectral range that targets specific structures and chromophores (e.g. melanin in hair, or oxyhemoglobin in blood vessels) that are heated to destruction and reabsorbed by the body. IPL shares some similarities with laser treatments, in that they both use light to heat and induce a biologic effect in their targets. But unlike lasers that use a single wavelength (color) of light which typically matches only one chromophore and hence only treats one condition, IPL uses a broad spectrum that when used with interchangeable filters, allowing it to be used against several conditions. This can be achieved when the IPL technician selects the appropriate filter that matches a specific chromophore.