Laser devices for removing permanent makeup: causes of failure

Denis Tikhoruk, director of Medikalazer LLC

The presence of a laser device in a good beauty salon or clinic is becoming the norm for the Ukrainian market. More and more cosmetologists and PM removal specialists prefer to perform procedures with this modern and highly effective equipment. But, like any other technique, laser cosmetology devices require skillful and careful handling. Only with technically competent operation, the devices will serve for a long time and please with good results of the procedures. As the service practice of the Medikalaser company shows, not all users of laser cosmetology devices comply with the technical requirements stated by the manufacturer, which leads to breakdowns of the devices and their premature wear. And no amount of education, thick instructions and other measures can fix this situation, and there are always some number of users who ignore the technical norms. Nevertheless, manufacturers of laser devices are making every effort to improve the technical literacy of users and minimize the cases of failure of devices due to the fault of users. For example, the Medicalaser company published a manual on non-warranty breakdowns of devices. Its distribution among customers significantly reduced the percentage of device breakdowns due to careless handling, although it did not reduce it to zero. And, summing up the results of 2018, I would like to share some observations about the most common causes of device breakdowns that were provoked by the consumers themselves. We would like to hope that this material will save valuable equipment in beauty salons and ensure its long-term, commercially profitable operation. Let's consider seven reasons for the most frequent breakdowns of devices that occurred through the fault of users. At the same time, we will arrange them in order of decreasing frequency and magnitude of negative consequences.

Reason #1

Use in water cooling systems with characteristics different from those of distilled water.

Cooling systems of laser devices in many models use distilled water as a coolant. Distilled water is considered water, the characteristics of which correspond to GOST 6709-72 “Distilled water” adopted back in 1974. The standard stipulates that one of the important characteristics of distilled water is a small amount of crystalline residue after evaporation. Its mass concentration should be no more than 5 mg / dm3. With such a low mass concentration in the channels of the cooling system, there is no significant precipitation of crystalline deposits that clog the cooling system. Inlet water with other characteristics leads to sedimentation and clogging of cooling systems. Diode lasers with microchannel cooling of the diode assembly are especially sensitive to water quality.

Photo 1.1 . Precipitation of calcium deposits in the pipe of the cooling system (a part of the pipe was cleaned with a cotton swab to demonstrate the amount of clogging)

Photo 1.2 . Sediment deposits in the water tank of the laser machine

In addition, some owners of the devices add any chemicals to the water that are not provided by the manufacturers at all. For example, one of the users of the device added chlorhexidine. He sincerely believed that such an additive would prevent the reproduction of microflora. At the same time, he did not take into account that the chlorhexidine solution can interact with the metal parts of the apparatus and have a negative effect on them.

Reason #2

Overheating of the apparatus due to blockages in the cooling system. Clogging of cooling systems leads to gradual overheating of the elements for generating laser or light radiation, changes in their operating parameters and, ultimately, failure. In addition, until the moment of complete failure, incorrect operation of the generating elements can lead to a gradual failure of radio-electronic elements on the control boards of the device - for example, field-effect transistors. Overheating of laser radiation generation elements can lead to the destruction of yttrium-aluminum garnet rods in neodymium lasers or burnout of diodes in diode laser assemblies.

Photo 2. Deposition of crystalline sediment from poor-quality water on the lamp, which led to the gradual failure of the lamp

Reason #3

Incorrect preservation of devices without draining liquids. Some of the owners of the devices do not use the devices for some period of time (from two months or more) either because of repairs in the premises, or for other reasons. At the same time, the owners ignore the procedure for preserving the device - they do not drain the coolant (water) and do not place the device in a package to protect it from dusting.

Photo 3. Bacterial blockages in the nozzles of the device, which was mothballed with a violation: water was not drained

This does not take into account the technical feature of the cooling systems of the apparatus that they are leaky. Dust and bacteria penetrate through the technical openings into the water, albeit in very small quantities. And over time, microflora can begin to multiply in the cooling tanks and water channels, which further leads to clogging of the cooling system.

Reason #4

Operation of devices and their parts in unforeseen modes. This category of cases includes:

• use of emergency shutdown buttons for daily de-energization of the device with further breakdown of the buttons;
• directing the laser beam onto the control display screen with subsequent damage to the display;
• twisting together several nozzles for the maniple - with a deterioration in the results of procedures and burnout of the nozzles - and many other violations that occur due to poor assimilation of the material by the users of the devices during training.

Photo 4.1 . Nozzle burn-out (dark spot on glass) due to contaminant entering the surface and untimely cleaning

Photo 4.2 . Damage to the display due to laser beam hitting it - three dark spots

Violations of operating modes do not always lead to a complete failure of the device, if they can be quickly detected and stopped. Everything can be limited only to a temporary deterioration in the quality of procedures. For example, there was a case when the user of the device tried to perform a carbon peeling procedure by twisting together several nozzles and positioning the handpiece so that there was a distance of up to 25 cm from the nozzle to the patient's skin. In this case, the device did not break down, but the user complained about the inefficiency of the procedures.

Reason #5

The fall of the maniples of the apparatus. The maniples of laser devices contain the most shock-sensitive components - elements of the laser radiation generation system and the optical system. Any fall of the maniple leads to a sharp impact on these elements, which can cause the failure of these elements, the appearance of chips in them or complete destruction.

Photo 5.1 . Shift of the body halves of the maniple as a result of a fall

Photo 5.2 . Damage to the lamp as a result of the fall of the maniple: a break in the glass shell is visible in the area of \u200b\u200bthe upper contact

Reason #6

Installation of devices in dusty places. The cooling systems of laser devices have sufficiently powerful coolers that blow air through the radiator fins. The radiator fins are installed at a close distance from each other, and if the device is installed in a place where dust is concentrated, or if the space behind the device is not cleaned in a timely manner, or if the desktop model of the laser is placed on the floor, then a powerful air flow from the cooler draws in this dust, it settles on the radiator fins. The settled dust begins to act as an obstacle to the air flow and a heat insulator. The heat transfer in the cooling system deteriorates, and the device begins to overheat. In addition, in some machines, the openings of the ventilation system may become clogged with larger debris.

Photo 6.1. Overlapping the openings of the ventilation system with large debris

Photo 6.2 . The radiator of the cooling system, covered with a dense layer of dust, which prevents the passage of cooling air

Reason #7

The fall of the main unit of the apparatus. It may seem paradoxical, but in many cases, damage caused by the fall of the main unit of the apparatus turns out to be much less dangerous in terms of consequences than the fall of maniples or the use of low-quality water. For example, in photo 7.1. and 7.2. the consequences of the fall of the main unit of the D-Las 40 apparatus are shown. The apparatus is quite heavy and fell directly on the top cover - the body collapsed in several places. But all internal components, including the control display, remained fully functional, and the repair was limited to restoration of the top cover at the request of the owner, although it was possible to replace the cover.

Photo 7.1 . Destruction of the right side of the upper cover of the device and damage to the rear metal cover with deformation of the elements and tearing out of the screws

Photo 7.2 . Damage to the left side of the top cover of the machine

The above examples for 7 groups of breakdowns are enough to increase the attention of users of laser devices during the procedures and maintenance of this useful equipment. In conclusion, I would like to add another piece of advice: get your equipment serviced at service centers on time. The timely passage of the first MOT allows you to identify existing violations of operation at the stage when the situation can be corrected and prevent the occurrence and development of more serious problems. I wish all readers the successful development of your business and the smooth operation of laser devices.

The material was first published in Permanent No. 1(13)/2019