How come some LLLT equipment has power in watts and some only in milliwatts?
This applies to GaAs lasers. When a GaAs laser works in a pulsed fashion, the laser light power varies between the peak pulse output power and zero. Then usually the laser’s average power output is of importance, especially in terms of dosage calculation. The peak pulse power value is of some relevance for the maximum penetration depth of the light. Some manufacturers specify only the peak pulse output in their technical specifications. “70 milliwatts peak pulse output” naturally seems more impressive than 35 milliwatts average output! Rule of thumb is: Take the “watt peak pulse” figure, divide by 2, and you have the average output in mW. This rule of thumb is not valid for GaAs-lasers as these lasers are super pulsed (extremely low duty cycle).
This applies to GaAs lasers. When a GaAs laser works in a pulsed fashion, the laser light power varies between the peak pulse output power and zero. Then usually the laser’s average power output is of importance, especially in terms of dosage calculation. The peak pulse power value is of some relevance for the maximum penetration depth of the light. Some manufacturers specify only the peak pulse output in their technical specifications. “70 watt peak pulse output” naturally seems more impressive than 35 milliwatts average output! Rule of thumb is: Take the “watt peak pulse” figure, divide by 2, and you have the average output in mW.
