The following is from the press release:

The Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT is Alma’s newest offering in skin rejuvenation and it is an upgrade to physicians’ existing CO2 skin resurfacing lasers. It is designed to provide patients with impressive results with just a fraction of the downtime compared to current treatments, and for significantly less money than replacing their current laser.

The Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT handpiece fits onto most existing CO2 lasers and is designed to deliver a high degree of efficacy without the side effects or significant downtime associated with traditional CO2 resurfacing. By combining Alma’s proprietary and proven Pixel fractional technology with a standard CO2 resurfacing laser, the new Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT delivers a supremely effective treatment for aged, photo-damaged, and acne-scarred skin with minimal patient redness, irritation or downtime...

The Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT handpiece takes ablative patient downtime from 30 days to approximately three, making the procedure as appealing as many non-invasive approaches available to today’s busy patients.

And here's a product brochure:

Product page: Pixel C02 OMNIFIT Fractionated CO2 Adapter From Alma Lasers...

Press release: Alma Lasers Announces FDA Clearance of the Pixel® CO2 OMNIFIT Handpiece...

Flashback: HarmonyXL, Aesthetic Dermatologist's Multi-Tool

The HarmonyXL device is the most comprehensive and versatile platform to enter the medical and aesthetic industry, as it is the first to combine lasers, pulsed light, near-infrared, LED and UVB technologies with multiple exchangeable handpieces to ensure easy and effective singular and combined therapeutic treatment. The HarmonyXL also accommodates new versions of Alma’s unique Advanced Fluorescence Technology (AFT) and several different laser technologies. Compared to its successful predecessor, HarmonyXL delivers higher energy and is the first Harmony model to incorporate Alma’s proprietary IN-MotionTM technology, which delivers effective energy with virtually no discomfort over a range of applications. Additionally, the HarmonyXL exclusively offers high-power Pixel® 2940 technology – a breakthrough for fractionated skin resurfacing treatments.

Press release: Alma Lasers Announces FDA Clearance of the HarmonyXL

Product page: HarmonyXL

Product brochure (.pdf)...

More about technology:

Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a narrowband filter mosaic that will expand the uses and functionality of multispectral imaging—a technology that enables subsurface characterization...

In addition to this application, the filter could potentially offer a reliabile, low-cost method to instantaneously classify military targets, sort produce, inspect product quality in manufacturing, detect contamination in foods, perform remote sensing in mining, monitor atmospheric composition in environmental engineering and diagnose early stage cancer and tumors.

The technology was developed in Georgia Tech’s Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) as part of a project to design a portable erythema and bruise-detection technology that will enhance early prevention and diagnosis of pressure ulcers, a secondary complication for people with impaired mobility and sensation.

Currently, clinical assessment of bruises is subjective and unreliable, especially when on persons with darkly pigmented skin. Improved imaging can lead to earlier intervention which is vital in cases of suspected physical abuse. Similarly, early detection of erythema can trigger preventive care that can stop progression into pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcers are a serious secondary complication for people with impaired mobility and sensation. Annual Medicare spending is conservatively approximated at $1.34 billion for the treatment of pressure ulcers. Early detection of erythema can prevent progression into more serious Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers.

The filter mosaic can be conveniently laminated with imaging sensors used in digital cameras. With a patent pending, CATEA researchers are currently seeking collaborative or financial support to further develop and design the device.

“Although multispectral imaging has matured into a technology with applications in many fields, clinicians and practitioners in these fields have generally stayed away from it due to extremely high costs and lack of portability,” said Dr. Stephen Sprigle, director of CATEA and professor of industrial design and human physiology. “Now, the possibilities are plentiful.”

Press release: New Technology Puts Biomedical Imaging in Palm of Hands...

From the press release:

The primary objective of the trial is to test the efficacy and safety of Noveon in treating patients with onychomycosis (toenail fungus). The target population for this study is patients with toenail onychomycosis, as confirmed by culture, with the goal of gaining a new FDA approval to use the device for the treatment of onychomycosis.

“This pivotal trial initiation is a major step for Nomir, moving us closer to commercial launch of our first product utilizing our proprietary dual-wavelength optical energy technology,” stated Richard Burtt, CEO of Nomir Medical Technologies. “Noveon represents a novel treatment approach of using optical energy to address disease indications, such as onychomycosis, that are typically sub-optimally treated with traditional pharmaceutical drugs. In pilot studies, Noveon demonstrated 87% clinical improvements, and we are therefore hopeful for similarly positive outcomes from this investigation.”

In November 2007, Nomir received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to utilize Noveon during surgical procedures of the skin, subcutaneous tissues and nasal passages in dermatology, plastic surgery, podiatry, and otolaryngology. Nomir’s regulatory strategy accelerates the review process for the FDA by de-coupling the device clearance from the application clearance.

Forty evaluable subjects will be enrolled in the prospective, randomized, multi-site U.S. trial. It is expected that this will provide at least 30 evaluable subjects, two-thirds of which will be treated with Noveon and the remaining serving as controls. Study objectives include assessing clinical improvement and mycological decontamination of the treated area of the nail. Patients will receive four treatments over a four-month period and will be followed up to one year following the initial treatment to assess clinical improvement and mycological response.

Press release (.pdf)...

Nomir Medical Technologies...

Using Bluetooth, wi-fi and cellular networks, a phone needs no modification itself. Capable of 50x magnification today, the devices could provide twice that. A smaller prototype features its own light source.

"This could be useful even at home," suggests Fletcher [Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Berkeley --ed.], "where, for example, early warnings of a change in the shape of a mole could be sent to your clinician on a regular basis to monitor."

In addition, cancer patients could conduct their own blood cell counts that today require larger microscopes and particle counters.

Dr. Lam, Pediatric Oncologist at UCSF, is one of the grad students working on CellScope. He adds, "By no means do we think this is going to replace those large particle counters. It's just a good adjunct for the patient to have at home."

More, with video, from ABC...

Project page: Telemicroscopy for Disease Diagnosis...

“Fractional lasers are like aerating your lawn, where you have a bunch of holes in your lawn, but you have normal lawn in between. This allows for more rapid healing because intact, normal skin bridges the gap between the laser-induced injured skin,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kenkel, vice chairman of plastic surgery whose research involves the effects of lasers on tissue. “We can vary the distance between the holes, which has an effect on how much tissue we choose to treat. The treatment parameters are determined by what we are trying to accomplish for each of our patients.”

Dr. Kenkel, director of the Clinical Center for Cosmetic Laser Treatment and chief of plastic surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical Center at Dallas, said the technology potentially could be one of the last decade’s biggest advancements in the laser world.

“What’s appealing about carbon dioxide lasers is that not only can you get surface and deeper skin changes, but you get heat that’s deposited into the skin resulting in improvement in wrinkles and skin tightening,” said Dr. Kenkel.

Press release: Plastic surgeons deploy new laser for wrinkle removal, acne scarring, tattoo removal

The Matrix RF applicator utilizes Syneron's patented Bi-Polar Radio Frequency technology to provide effective and comfortable skin rejuvenation. The tunable applicator, which may be used on Syneron's eLight™, eLaser™ and eMax™ platforms, allows for the adjustment of ablation and coagulation settings to vary treatment depth and the proportion of skin treated in each session. The Matrix RF will also feature a single-use disposable. The Matrix RF is the second product in Syneron's series of elos fractional treatments, which currently includes the Matrix IR™ device. Like all of Syneron's specialized applicators, the Matrix RF will be sold as an upgrade to the elos platforms, to be used along with other Syneron applicators to expand the range of aesthetic treatments physicians can offer from each eSeries platform.

Press release: Syneron(TM) Previews Matrix RF(TM) Ablative Fractional Device and Laser-Assisted Lipolysis System at American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting

Syneron product page: Products

The Fraxel re:pair laser system, the result of two years of clinical research, represents a new category in skin rejuvenation: Ablative Fractional Resurfacing (AFRTM) treatment. It is the only device on the market that has received FDA clearance specifically for skin resurfacing with a fractional mode of delivery. “Ablative fractional skin resurfacing with the Fraxel re:pair laser is the biggest breakthrough for wrinkle removal in the last 10 years,” said Christopher Zachary, FRCP, chair of the Department of Dermatology, University of California at Irvine. “Results approach those we can achieve with a facelift, with very few complications and limited downtime. The Fraxel re:pair system produces significant tissue tightening, wrinkle reduction and textural improvement, both on and off the face.” The Fraxel re:pair laser is the industry’s only minimally invasive, ablative fractional laser system that delivers a full spectrum of aesthetic treatment from Fractional MicroDermAblation™(FMDA™)treatment to Fractional Deep Dermal Ablation™ (FDDA™) treatment. It is the only ablative resurfacing device capable of being operated by a single clinician, because of its built-in smoke evacuation system, and capable of treating at depths from 300 micrometers (µm) to 1.6 mm into the dermis, all in a single hand piece.

Product page: Fraxel re:pair

Press release: Reliant Technologies Announces World Premiere of Fraxel re:pair(TM) Laser: A New Class of Treatment Therapy for CO2 Laser Skin Resurfacing ...

Jye Smith from QUT’s [Queensland University of Technology --ed.] School of Physical and Chemical Sciences has developed a new diagnostic technique using bioimpedance spectroscopy to diagnose cervical and skin cancers.

Bioimpedance measures the electrical characteristics of biological tissue and is used by gyms to calculate amounts of lean tissue, water and fat.

“It has only recently been applied to biological tissue to determine healthy, cancerous or dead cells,” Mr Smith said.

“It offers the possibility of a simple device that can be run over the surface of the skin or internal organ that can quickly, cheaply and accurately record changes in cellular structure that point to cancerous changes.”

Mr Smith said the bioimpedance technique sent tiny electrical currents into the tissue.

“By running the currents through a surface it can identify the boundaries of a lesion,” he said.

“If a cell’s structure has changed, the impedance characteristics change and clinicians can use the changes to diagnose the type of lesion.”

He said the technique picked up changes inside the cells, changes in cells’ membranes and also changes in the space between cells.

“By putting all this information together, it may be possible to diagnose types of cancer along with their boundaries.”

“The beauty of this technique is that the patient doesn’t need an anaesthetic, the data is immediate, and it has the potential to be as accurate as more time-consuming, expensive techniques.

Mr Smith said further development of the technique could very well see it make its way into GP or skin clinics.

Press Release...

Abstract: A Pilot Study For Tissue Characterisation Using Bioimpedance Mapping...

"We pluck a few hairs off the back of the patient's head and extract adult stem cells from their roots, which we then proliferate in a cell culture for about two weeks. Then we reduce the nutrient solution until it no longer covers the upper sides of the cells, exposing them to the surrounding air. The increased pressure exerted by the oxygen on the surfaces of the cells causes them to differentiate into skin cells," explains Emmendörffer. In this way, the researchers can grow numerous small pieces of skin, produced individually for each patient, which add up to a surface area of 10 to 100 square centimeters when pieced together. To ensure that they comply with the safety regulations at all times, the researchers are using new cleanrooms at the IZI, a state-of-the-art facility for producing different kinds of cell therapeutics. "We continuously measure the number of particles in the cleanrooms. If there are too many particles in the air, an alarm goes off," says Schmiedeknecht. The researchers expect to grow skin grafts for 10 to 20 patients a month in 2008, depending on how many doctors prescribe this therapy.

More from Fraunhofer Institute...