Page 115 - LASERS & IPLS IN MEDICAL/AESTHETIC APPLICATIONS

IPL Classification
Chapter 1 – Fundamentals of Medical/Aesthetic Lasers and IPLs v1.1
While IPLs do not come under the international laser Classification system, they must comply with another Standard – the IEC 60335-2-113:2016 – Particular requirements for cosmetic and beauty care appliances incorporating lasers and intense light sources.
Home-use hair reduction IPLs are required to be classed as “Exempt” (Risk Group 0) and have a range of safety features including safety switches, capacitance sensors and/or skin tone sensors under the international lamp safety standard IEC 62471:2008 Photobiological safety of lamps and lamp systems.
Virtually all professional IPL devices fall into the Risk Group 3 (High Risk) as the light from these devices may emanate in all directions, unchecked. Consequently, these devices must be used with proper training and care.
IPL Safety Eyewear
Traditionally, IPL eyewear has been specified using the standard for welding eyewear, which gives a choice of two levels of protection:
• Level 3
• Level 5
The current safety standard for IPL protective glasses (in the UK) is the BS ISO 12609-1:2013. (Find out more info here.) Similar to laser safety eyewear, requirements for IPL eyewear are different for operator and client, depending on the area of treatment:
• Operators: distance for calculations of accidental exposure is 10cm
• Clients undergoing treatment away from the face: distance for calculations of
accidental exposure is 10cm
• Clients undergoing treatment near the face: distance for calculations of accidental
exposure is 1cm
Typically, goggles of level 3 or 5 would be specified for the operator, and close-fitting eyecaps would be specified for the client. Even though the client would theoretically be safe with the same goggles as the operator for treatments away from the face, it may be administratively simpler to always use eyecaps for the client, no matter which area of the body is undergoing treatment.
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Chapter 1 LEVEL A Fundamentals of Lasers/IPLs
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