4 Laser Therapy Dosing Basics
Dosing is the fundamental parameter that determines if a treatment has a clinical impact – or not. When a doctor prescribes medicine, the specific condition and size/weight of a patient will affect the dosage. Similarly, the dosage for laser therapy depends on the condition and size/weight of a patient. Treatment dose in the application of laser therapy is very important to ensure that the patient will receive adequate therapeutic results.
An infant would not take the same amount of ibuprofen as his mother – the same principle applies in laser therapy.
2 Important Parameters for Calculating Laser Therapy Dose:
1. The Size of the Area to Treat
Treatment Area (cm2) = length (cm) x width (cm)
2. The Target Dosage
Typical dosages range from 6-12 joules per square centimeter.
To determine how much energy you want to deliver, take the treatment area that you calculated and multiply it by the target dosage.
Total Energy = Target Dosage (J/cm2) x Treatment Area (cm2)
Real-Life Dosing Example:
I want to treat a 10 cm by 10 cm area with 10 joules/cm2. To calculate my total joules required to deliver the appropriate dosage, I will first calculate treatment area:
Treatment Area (cm2) = length (cm) x width (cm)
100 cm2 = 10 cm x 10 cm
Using my treatment area of 100 cm2 and my target dose of 10 J/cm2, I can now calculate my total energy required to dose this condition:
Total Energy = target dosage (J/cm2) x area (cm2)
1000 J = 10 J/cm2 x 100 cm2
Therefore, to deliver a therapeutic dose, I want to deliver 1,000 joules to the 100 cm2 area.
How Long Would It Take To Deliver that 1,000 Joules in Continuous Wave?
How long would it take to deliver 1,000 joules in continuous wave? Delivering doses in relevant treatment times is the key to why many clinics are moving to high-powered lasers. To calculate the treatment time we will use the following formula:
Treatment Time (s) = Total Energy Delivered (J)/ Average Output Power (W)
Treatment Time with a 10 watt Laser
100 seconds (1 minute and 40 seconds) = 1,000 J/ 10 W
Treatment Time with a 5 watt Laser
200 seconds (3 minutes and 20 seconds) = 1,000 J/ 5 W
Treatment Time with a 500 milliwatt Laser
2,000 seconds (33 minutes and 20 seconds) = 1,000 J/ 0.5 W
Treatment Time with a 5 milliwatt Laser
200,000 seconds (55 hours 33 minutes and 20 seconds) = 1,000 J/ 0.005 W
As you can now see – laser therapy dosing is a simple mathematical equation taking into consideration target dosage, expressed in J/cm2, and the size of the area being treated, expressed in cm2. The power output of your therapy laser determines the treatment time required to get the number of total joules into the treatment area.
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Comments
on 4 Laser Therapy Dosing BasicsThanks. Excellent explanation. It's important to understand the concept before being trapped by marketing gimmicks.
on 4 Laser Therapy Dosing BasicsHello and thank you for your comment! Dosing depends on a number of factors, including size of area being treated...
on 4 Laser Therapy Dosing BasicsThose dosage parameters are so low therapeutic benefit not achieved. Laser experts I've consulted recommend 18,000 joules for most treatments....
on 4 Laser Therapy Dosing BasicsI learned so much for sharing your article about basic lazer therapy boca raton. Cheers!!!
I learned so much for sharing your article about basic lazer therapy boca raton. Cheers!!!
Those dosage parameters are so low therapeutic benefit not achieved. Laser experts I’ve consulted recommend 18,000 joules for most treatments.
Hello and thank you for your comment! Dosing depends on a number of factors, including size of area being treated and depth of target tissue. In this blog post, the dosages provided are for example purposes and the numbers were chosen for ease of calculation demonstration. If you are treating a large area, multiple target regions, or deeper tissues, the actual dosages would be much higher.
Excellent explanation! Thank you
Thanks. Excellent explanation.
It’s important to understand the concept before being trapped by marketing gimmicks.
Thanks. Excellent explanation.
Best explanation on the net