Medlite vs Gemini laser

Article medically reviewed by Dr. Gavin Chan

Templestowe Lower, Berwick and Beaumaris Clinics

Dr. Gavin Chan, MBBS, General Registration (MED0001175745), founder of the Victorian Cosmetic Institute, began offering cosmetic medical treatments in 2004. Formerly a trainer for cosmetic pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Chan currently concentrates on offering ongoing training to cosmetic doctors at the Victorian Cosmetic Institute. He ensures that all doctors stay updated with the latest procedures and methods in the cosmetic industry. Read More

The Medlite and Gemini lasers are two lasers that are commonly used at The Victorian Cosmetic Institute for the treatment of skin. Interestingly, they both emit the same wavelength, namely 1064 nanometres and 532 nanometres, but perform very different treatments simply because of the duration of each laser pulse.

The Gemini laser is a long – pulse laser, which emits pulses that are in the millisecond range. Although the term ‘long-pulse’ would suggest something much longer than a few milliseconds, this is quite long in the laser world.

The Medlite laser is a q-switched laser. This means that it emits pulses in the nano-second range. One nano-second is one billionth of a second and therefore is one million times shorter than one millisecond. The laser achieves this very short pulse via q-switching, which is achieved by a camera-shutter like mechanism in the laser.

The consequences of these differences in pulse duration are that these lasers are used for very different applications. The Medlite laser with its extremely short pulses tends to be able to provide very high energy short pulses that can shatter the target without heating it much. For example, it can be used to remove tattoo ink from skin by shattering it into smaller particles for the body to remove. The Gemini laser cannot perform this treatment because its relatively longer pulses cause heating and scarring of the skin before the tattoo ink can be broken down.

On the other hand, the Gemini laser is highly suited to the treatment of visible/superficial blood vessels on the face. Its 532nm wavelength is highly attracted to this target, and provides specific heat energy to this target to help to shut down the capillary. The Medlite laser at the same wavelength, although attracted to the target, tends to not provide enough heat energy to shut down the blood vessel due to its short pulse.

For more information on these lasers click on the relevant links below;

For more information on the Gemini laser and its applications, click here

For more information on the Medlite laser and its applications, click here