Assessment of the Suitability of Excimer Lasers in Treating Onychomycosis

摘要

Since it is known that UV-C radiation kills fungus, we wanted to verify the hypothesis that the use of excimer laser could be an alternative method for treating onychomycosis - nail fungus. The aim of the first stage of this work was to determine the transmission, reflection and absorption of nails. In the following stage we focused on irradiation of fungi. Our final task is to assess whether it is possible to determine the parameters of radiation (a total dose,a dose per pulse frequency, a repetition rate, a number of pulses) for which the elimination of fungi would be the most effective but without damaging the nail and soft tissue underneath it. The results so far have showed that UV-C radiation does not pass through a fingernail to such an extent that it could damage the soft tissue beneath it. Fungi are destroyed by the application of only small doses of radiation using the excimer laser. Additional measurements will be required to determine the modulation parameters of the excimer laser radiation for the treatment of onychomycosis.