Design and temporal control study of multi-LC network medical Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) system

Abstract

Intense Pulsed Light systems employ flash lamps as optical sources to provide the required light intensity with certain temporal profile for use in a large number of medical applications; namely, the aesthetic ones. Driving a flash lamp requires high voltage DC power supply, capacitive energy storage, and flash lamp triggering unit. Single and double-mesh discharge and triggering circuits were designed and built to provide intense light pulses of variable time durations. Variable energy and duration intense light pulses needed in aesthetic medical applications were obtained. The system was treated as circuit with a light pulse profile follows the temporal behavior of the exciting current pulse. Distributing the energy delivered to one lamp on to a number of LC meshes permitted longer current pulses, and consequently, increased the light pulse length and shortened its current rise time.