Use of Simultaneous Emission of Nd:YAG and Alexandrite Lasers in BLEND Mode for Hair Removal and Permanent Hair Reduction

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and patient satisfaction of a novel laser technology that employs simultaneous emission of Alexandrite (755 nm) and Nd:YAG (1064 nm) wavelengths for permanent hair removal, as compared with standard of care treatment using a single wavelength (either Alexandrite or Nd:Yag). METHODS: A prospective, multi-center study with 53 subjects and 230 total treatment sites (multiple sites per subject). The subjects underwent 5 treatment sessions at 6-8 week intervals, with follow-up 12 months after the last treatment session. The percent change in hair count was calculated for each treatment setting, skin type, and treatment area and used to evaluate the efficacy of hair reduction. Pain during treatment and adverse events were recorded. RESULTS: Fifty-three subjects with skin type I-VI were enrolled in the study (median age 29.0 years, 98.1% female). Legs were the most common treatment area (53.7%) followed by axillae (25.3%) and bikini area (17.9%). Hair counts decreased for all treatment settings. Twelve months after the last treatment session, a mean decrease from baseline of 84.6% ± 18.8%, 73.4% ± 25.3%, and 63.9% ± 31.2% was observed in areas treated with SET, 755 and 1064 nm, respectively. Reduction in hair count from baseline was also observed for the axillae, legs, and bikini area separately. All treatment settings performed better on the bikini area and legs as compared to the axillae (two-sided p-value < 0.0001). Treatment with SET showed the highest percent reduction in hair count in all treatment areas. Moreover, remaining hair became statistically thinner and lighter between baseline and the 12 month of follow-up for all study groups and treatment sites. Analysis revealed that subjects reported higher satisfaction with the SET treatment compared with the control treatments. Specifically, 69.1% of subjects gave the highest satisfaction score for the SET treatment, compared with 48.9% for the 755 nm treatment and 33.3% for the 1064 nm treatment. Additionally, only 5 out of the 230 treated sites were reported to have treatment-related adverse events, none of them serious. CONCLUSION: This study showed the effectiveness, tolerability and high patient satisfaction of treatment with SET when compared to Alexandrite and Nd:YAG lasers treatment, alone. The study results also demonstrated maintained safety with minimal adverse events reported.