More and more of us are exploring laser as part of our portfolio of healing modalities. Let Berman Partners, LLC help define some of the key laser terms for you.
Average Power
Refers to the average power that a laser emits during the treatment, measured in watts (W).
Duty Cycle
Ratio of “on” duration compared to “off” during one period. A period is the time it takes to complete an on-and-off cycle.
Effective Dose
Is the does or amount that produces a therapeutic response or desired effect.
Energy
Commonly used to characterize laser output, measured in joules (J).
Energy Density/Fluence
The energy density expresses the total amount of energy delivered per unit area, in Joules per square centimeter (J/cm2).
Hertz (Hz)
Unit of frequency, i. e. “pulses per second”, listed in Hz.
Joule (J)
A unit of energy describing the work required to produce one watt of power for one second (one watt-second).
Joule cm2 (J cm2)
A unit of radiant exposure used in measuring the amount of energy per unit area of absorbing surface or per unit area of a laser beam. Also called the dose.
Peak Power
The maximum pulse power output of a laser and it is fixed by the laser manufacturer.
Power
The time rate at which energy is transferred. Usually expressed in watts (joules per second); also termed radiant flux.
Power Density
The intensity of the laser beam; average power divided by size of beam (“spot size”); relates to the dose.
Pulse Mode
The pulse energy is simply the total optical energy content of a pulse. Pulse mode is operation of a laser when the beam is intermittently on in fractions of a second.
Watt (W)
The unit of power; equivalent to one joule per second.
Watt cm2 (W cm2)
A unit of irradiance used in measuring the amount of power per area of absorbing surface, or per cross-sectional area of a laser beam. Also called power density.
