Cynosure Cynergy, Technical Manual

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Cynergy Technical Guide 850-1265-000, Rev. 4 63 of 112
Section 9 Servicing–Laser Heads and Beam Train
Dye Kit Methodology
The dye laser uses an organic dye suspended in a solvent as the lasing media. The dye filter and
the inject bottle serve as reservoirs to maintain an acceptable concentration of fresh dye.
As the dye laser pulses, the dye undergoes a chemical transformation after each pulse and must
pass through the dye filter to be rejuvenated. This process can continue so long as the dye filter is
less than 12 months old or the filter has less than 100,000 shots after its last change. If either of
these conditions is met, the dye kit (dye filter and inject bottle) should be replaced.
The dye concentration is maintained by a monitoring system that will inject more dye as needed.
This additional supply of dye is pulled from the inject bottle.
Dye Kit Assessment
Shot Number on Dye Kit: The dye kit is warranted for 100k shots. If this number has been
exceeded, the problem could simply be that the consumable needs to be replaced.
Shelf life: Check the expiration date of the dye kit. If it was manufactured more than one year
prior to the service date, the kit should be replaced.
Dye laser performance has a complex relationship with dye chemistry that makes it difficult to
assess the condition of the dye kit with a simple, go no-go test. Inherent in the PDL design (see
dye kit methodology) is that it looses some of its original performance and degrades as the
system accumulates pulses, but it is also possible to loose performance by simply sitting idle for
long periods. It is documented that frequently used lasers will exceed warranty periods of dye
kits, while systems that are not turned on and warmed-up over the course of months may exhibit
problems when just reaching the warranted number of shots.
Dye kits do not suddenly drop in performance unless they were subjected to solvent changes or
exposure to cold for long periods. A steep change in laser performance should not be assumed to
be the dye kit. A system that was working yesterday, but is not working today has little chance of
harboring a bad dye kit. Viewing the FOM recorded over several start-ups, as well as the Fault
Log will indicate how the system was performing over time. A slow slide in the ABS (absorption
value proportional to concentration of the dye in solution) may indicate dye kit problems. Dye
kits rarely exhibit chemical changes, only slow changes that cannot be detected by the on-board
concentration monitor or any service procedure or tool.
A dye kit must be assessed before the PDL can be diagnosed for poor performance. It is the first
thing to question, but only after thorough analysis should it be replaced. Historically, it is has
been a common troubleshooting error to replace the dye kit only to find the problem was
elsewhere. This can be a costly process. Yet, there are advantages to a good assessment up front,
e.g., a dye kit could be sent to the site before a Service Technician to resolve a simple problem. It
is the purpose of the following section to outline the logical assessment of dye kits in the field.
NOTE: When new dye kits are proven to be effective at restoring laser energy, the dye shots
count is reset from the Utility Screen, and not before that. If the new dye kit did not solve the
problem, the old kit should be returned to the system and the new kit sent back to Cynosure.