Laser melts harmful fat

Infrared laser light could be used to treat conditions such as acne, cellulite and even clogged arteries by melting fatty material without damaging surrounding tissue, a US research team has claimed.

The team of medics and engineers from the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the US Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) conducted the first part of the study using human fat obtained from surgically discarded normal tissue. Based on a fat absorption spectrum, tissue was exposed to a range of wavelengths of infrared laser light using the Free-Electron Laser facility at Jefferson Lab.

The researchers measured how selected wavelengths heated the fat and compared the result to a similar experiment conducted with pure water. At most infrared wavelengths, water is more efficiently heated by infrared light. However, the researchers found three wavelengths - 915, 1210 and 1720 nm - where fat was more efficiently heated than water.