Opinion on  Palomar Medical Technologies Inc (PMTI)     Sector: Healthcare  >  Industry: Medical Equipment & Supplies
Palomar Medical Technologies Inc

<font> www.palomarmedical.com/ </font>

Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc. (Palomar), design, manufacture, market and sell lasers and other light-based products and related disposable items and accessories for use in medical and cosmetic procedures. The Company focused on research, develop, manufacture, market, sell and service light-based products used to perform procedures addressing medical and cosmetic concerns. The Company offers a comprehensive range of products based on technologies that include, but are not limited to: hair removal; body sculpting, including laser-assisted liposuction; removal of vascular lesions, such as rosacea, spider veins, port wine stains and hemangiomas; wrinkle reduction; removal of leg veins; removal of benign pigmented lesions, such as age and sun spots, freckles and melasma; tattoo removal; acne treatment; skin resurfacing, pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB) treatment; treatment of red pigmentation in hypertrophic and keloid scars; treatment of verrucae, skin tags and seborrheic keratosis; skin tightening through soft tissue coagulation; scars, including acne scars, stretch marks and warts, soft tissue coagulation and other skin treatments. The Company has three operating subsidiaries: Palomar Medical Products, Inc., Palomar Medical Technologies BV and Palomar Medical Technologies (Australia) Pty Limited.

Lux Platform

The Company’s first product with the Lux Platform was the EsteLux Pulsed Light System. In the following years it introduced the MediLux Pulsed Light System, with the same six handpieces, but also with higher power, faster repetition rate and a new snap-on connector for faster changes between handpieces. The Company has introduced StarLux 300 Pulsed Light and Laser System with increased power, a computer controlled touch screen, instant handpiece recognition, active contact cooling, and a long pulse Nd:YAG laser handpiece, the Lux1064. The Company also introduced LuxIR, Lux1540, StarLux 500 Pulsed Light and Laser System with 70% more power and increased functionality and speed of treatment as compared to the original StarLux System. In early 2008, the Company introduced the LuxDeepIR handpiece and the LuxYs handpiece, and two new handpieces, the Lux2940 fractional handpiece for ablative treatment and the Lux1440 fractional handpiece for non-ablative treatment.

EsteLux

Palomar’s hand pieces for the EsteLux system include LuxY, LuxG, LuxR, LuxRs, LuxB and LuxV. These hand pieces emit pulses of intense light to treat unwanted hair, solar lentigo (sunspots), rosacea, actinic bronzing, spider veins, birthmarks, telangiectasias and acne. The LuxY hand piece is used for hair removal for large body areas and for pigmented lesion treatments. The LuxG hand piece delivers the RejuveLux process photofacial treatments that remove pigmented and vascular lesions to enhance skin tone and texture. The LuxR hand piece can be used to remove hair on all skin types, from the fairest to the darkest, including deep tans. Likewise, the LuxRs hand piece can be used to remove hair on all skin types, but it has concentrated power in each pulse resulting in permanent hair reduction in fewer treatments. The LuxB hand piece provides effective treatment of lighter pigmented lesions on fair skin, as well as leg and spider veins, and the LuxV hand piece treats pigmented lesions and mild to moderate acne.

MediLux

The Company launched the Palomar MediLux Pulsed Light System with the six hand pieces also available on the EsteLux. The MediLux provides a snap-on connector enabling it to switch among hand pieces and provide treatments tailored to each individual being treated.

StarLux 300

The StarLux 300 has a single power supply capable of operating both lasers and lamps. The StarLux 300 includes increased power, active contact cooling and a full color touch screen. The StarLux 300 operates five of the EsteLux / MediLux handpieces: the LuxY, LuxG, LuxR, LuxRs and LuxV. In addition, the increased power of the StarLux 300 allows for the operation of a long pulse Nd:YAG laser handpiece, the Lux1064. The Lux1064 laser handpiece has the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for a variety of applications, including but not limited to removal of pigmented and vascular lesions, including visible leg veins. The Lux1064 is a high power laser handpiece featuring Smooth Pulse technology and Active Contact Cooling while also providing multiple spot sizes.

The Company’s Active Contact Cooling technology sends a chilled water supply through the StarLux 300 handpieces, thus cooling the skin before, during, and after treatment. The StarLux full-color screen allows finger-touch operation and instant hand piece recognition while providing constant feedback on operating parameters.

The Company introduced and began shipping a new infrared handpiece, the LuxIR, for deep tissue heating for relief of muscle and joint pain. Palomar received FDA clearance for the LuxIR hand piece for soft tissue coagulation. The Lux1540 Fractional Laser hand piece for soft tissue coagulation. The Lux1540 delivers light in an array of microbeams, which create narrow, deep columns of tissue coagulation that penetrate below the epidermis and into the dermis, while sparing the tissue surrounding the columns from damage. In February 2007, the Company introduced the LuxYs Pulsed Light handpiece for permanent reduction of lighter, finer hair.

StarLux 500

Palomar launched the StarLux 500 Laser and Pulsed Light System, and began shipping in March 2007. The StarLux 500 operates all the handpieces available for the StarLux 300 System, as well as the LuxDeepIR handpiece.

Aspire

In April 2008, the Company launched the Aspire body sculpting system and SlimLipo handpiece. The SlimLipo handpiece is used to melt unwanted fat efficiently and effectively by selectively targeting adipose tissue. The SlimLipo handpiece features continuous wave technology for superior control of thermal effects versus competing high peak power lasers; dual laser wavelengths of 924 nm and 975 nm for optimized fat and dermal tissue lasing; interchangeable treatment tip designs for specific treatment areas, and an aiming beam for precise visualization of the treatment tip during treatment.

Q-YAG 5

The Palomar Q-YAG 5 system has FDA clearance for tattoo and pigmented lesion removal. The Palomar Q-YAG 5 is a Q-switched, frequency-doubled Neodymium laser. The combination of wavelengths allows users to treat a spectrum of colors and inks. The single wavelength is suited for treating darker tattoo inks and dermal-pigmented lesions, such as Nevi of Ota common in Japan and other Pacific Rim countries. The mixed wavelength is suited for brighter colors and epidermal-pigmented lesions, such as solar lentigines.

Legacy Products

Palomar no longer sells the EpiLaser or E2000 hair removal laser systems, the RD-1200Q-switched ruby laser, SLP1000 Diode Laser System or the NeoLux Pulsed Light System. However, the Company continues to service these systems. The service of the RD-1200, Epilaser and E2000 have been contracted out to a third-party service provider, and the Company has the option of contracting out the service of the SLP 1000 systems to this same party.

The Company competes with Candela, Inc., Cutera, Inc., Cynosure, Inc., Syneron, Inc., Lumenis, Inc., Alma, Inc., Iridex, Inc. and Reliant Technologies, Inc.