Hi all and Geoff,
To answer the question re PM of our IPL, we have to set the firing head on our meter in a special holder, once that is done, enter the service mode and measure the first point of light, at 1J/cm2. We can then adjust the light output to be correct within 20%. This is repeated at 2,3,4,5J/cm2 etc up to 14J/cm2. Tolerance is +/-20% Then check the water cooling is correctly running, and observe the temperature falling as the head cools down. (the system has 1.5 of water in it). Every time the flash light is fired the lifetime of the head is reduced, so you cant just merrily fire continuously.
As far as test kit goes, there are various test meters for light that can cope with up to 20J/cm2 of light, at 900-1200nm. The wavelength of the light is fixed, measuring wavelength would be very difficult as its such high power. A simple wavelength meter would not be robust enough to work with the high levels of light.
You cant visually see the difference between 1J/cm2 and 2J/cm2, the eye is not that good, and you cant look at the light, you can only look at the reflection using goggles or eye protection to reduce the levels and protect the engineer. Safety first and foremost. The amount of light from our system is huge, you would never look directly into a camera flashlight, the IPL is many times brighter.
re power settings, it does make a difference, certain powers for certain conditions, over stimulation of the skin can cause sides effects, under stimulation wont be clinically effective. We always want to work clinically with ALARA (As low as possible) in mind. I am not a clinician, if anyone wants to see more clinical info look at the website... (this is a technical post)
The test and calibration of the IPL laser from Quantel is tightly regulated. The amount of light that comes from the head is extremely bright, its not a laser, but our IPL system needs to be worked on very carefully. Safety first.
