Does anyone have any long term (one year plus) experience with the Duet? I have used it in three trials and feel as though the results are 50/50. Unless the patient had black hair they didn't experience full eradication of the hair for any length of time. I am used to the XC and get excellent results, not so sure about the Duet though. Comments?

The light sheer Duet is a good platform. However it does have a learning curve where one has to learn to use the vacuum seal correctly and making proper contact. I'm sure you will get a hang of it in no time. Although the sales rep will tell you all it takes is 1 pass over the treatment area and your done. I would do at least 3 passes to make sure I covered the area correctly without any lapses.

Glad you are getting great result with the Duet John. How long does the vacuum cover last you in your practice? I can't seem to get longevity on these covers. They tend to leak after repeated use. Replacement covers fix the problems. But I am just trying to save money by minimizing amount of consumables in my practice.

I remember 10 years ago when the Israeli company Radiancy launched their LHE system with up to 12 J/cm2 and vacuum seal. Everyone was happy the first year, but then came the problems.... All hair fell of as it should, but one year after every single hair was back again. So I am just waiting for the history to repeat itself 10 years after. I have always been working with lasers, but I did my first mistake in this business when I bought this poor system (it was cheap)...

Since then I have only been working with Candelas GentleLase and GentleYAG and my staff treats hundreds of patients every month with very little complaints.

I will NEVER AGAIN buy a system without three years "field experience" and serious studies.

Dr Tom,

We get really good results and I can for sure say that the results are permanent since some of my patients are some really good friends and relatives treated more than 4 years ago with no hair-regrowth. In some cases we see up to 95% clearance, but in average somewhere between 80-90% clearance if all the parameters are fulfilled (dark hair, skintype 1-4).

Today I get a lot of patients by recommendation from happy patients treated before with Candelas GentleLase.

I have now personally got 3 treatment with Lumenis new Duet system on me right arm. My left arm is untreated. 6 month after the last treatment I can see a lot of hair coming back again as suspected. There is almost no differens. I have skintype 2 with dark coarse hair, so I should be a good candidate for this laser.

I was VERY skeptic about the low energy and long pulse before I got the treatments, but I wanted to give it a chance before judging it. Two of my employees did also get treatments in axila and bikini line. They faced the same experience as I did. The hair is growing back after 6 month.

It will be very interesting to follow the development during the two next years.

/Dr Weingart

If you check the MAUDA database for July and August, you will find that all of the adverse events were on Lumenis products (cosmetic device filings), primarily LightSheer Duet. Of course, it was all operator error or the patient's fault:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2217628

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2220685

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2217645

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2216444

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2216645

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2210058

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2210563

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2181884

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2181891

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=2188686

Sorry, that would be the MAUDE database.

If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. I was hopeful that the lumenis duet with its claims of painless and faster treatments would solve some of the complaints surrounding LHR , however the tradeoff is a big learning curve for the practitioners who started with this new technology and many more treatments for the patients to get the desired outcome.

I have been less then thrilled with the duet and would much rather go back to my Cynosure apogee elite or anything from Candela. However, if do have a patient who can't tolerate pain or a patient who has an exceptionally large area to treat it may be a good option. Just make sure that the patient expectations are a min of 8 or more treatments and that is with a good candidate.

Lastly, make sure you have all the recent software upgrades as this can make a difference in your ability to be more aggressive with this equipment with a better clinical endpoint.

Would love to know what are practices are experiencing with the duet