Laser Focus World - January 2015

repeat of 2014 in terms of market growth, which is reflected in our projection of a 5% increase over 2014 revenues. This is consistent with many expert economic analysts’ forecasts for a slowing international economy with lowering GDP for most of the advanced, expanding, and newly industrialized economies.

This growth will be led, again, by fiber lasers, but at a slight- ly lower rate than that of 2014. Fiber lasers are expected to continue eroding the market share of all CO2 and long-pulse solid-state lasers. Ultrafast pulse solid-state lasers should experience significant sales increases led by micromachining applications including AM. High-power laser applications in metal cutting will settle at a more consistent single-digit growth rate, but those lasers used for welding are expected to see dou-ble-digit growth beyond 2015.

Medical and aesthetic

Medical laser volume applications of significance are indicated by the following 2014 announcements: a milestone shipment of 2000 MxL series lasers (with wavelengths from 405 to 671 nm) by Changchun New Industries (CNI Laser; Changchun, China) for optogenetics applications; Coherent shipped its 2000th Chameleon-series laser for multiphoton microscopy applications; and Fianium (Southampton, England) shipped its 1000th supercontinuum laser with continually improving specifications optimized for use in ultrafast spectroscopy, near-field imaging, and microscopy.

“We will finish our fiscal year with 30% revenue growth in
medical laser systems now that biomedical system integrators
and pharmaceutical companies are looking for complete la-
ser solutions rather than designing and building up from the
component level,” says Petteri Uusimaa, president and CEO
of Modulight (Tampere, Finland). “By offering an end-to-end
solution, we have signed several multiyear contracts and dou-
bled our life science business in 2014.”
In 2014, surgical, ophthalmic, and cosmetic laser sales surged
13%, 9%, and 8%, respectively, bringing medical and aesthet-
ic laser sales in 2014 to $745 million and are forecast to in-
crease more than 9% to $815 million by 2015.

And although dental laser sales only increased 1% in 2014,
ultrafast lasers could change that equation. “Energies are too
high and laser-tissue interaction times are too long for today’s
Er:YAG and CO2 microsecond and short nanosecond pulsed
dental lasers to provide both the thermal and stress confine-
ment necessary to prevent microcracks, pre- and post-oper-
ative pain, and/or induction of cancer by ionization of water
molecules in dental applications,” says Anton Kasenbacher, a
practicing dentist in Traunstein, Germany. “Ultrashort pulsed
picosecond lasers achieve high ablation rates at high scan
speeds with autofocus feedback, reducing the need, as an ex-
ample, for intraoral suction and allowing therapy and diag-
nostic applications—theranostics—using a single system that
delivers controlled biosafe nonlinear absorption of photons.”
In the laser aesthetics segment, Cynosure’s (Westford, MA)
Q3 2014 revenue was up 18% year-over-year to $71.5 million.

While European revenue was up just 17% and U.S. revenue in- creased 17%, the largest increase came in at 46% from the Asia- Pacific region. The sales boost was primarily attributed to FDA and other governments’ approval of Cynosure’s PicoSure prod- uct for benign lesion, acne scarring, tattoo, and wrinkle removal. Cutera’s (Brisbane, CA) Q3 2014 revenue increased 11% to $18.7 million; Lumenis (Yokneam, Israel) reached Q3 2014 revenue of $74.2 million— 9.4% higher than the same period last year; and Syneron-Candela’s (Yokneam, Israel) Q3 2014 revenues were up 8.3% to $60.3 million. In all cases, the companies attributed the increases to FDA approval and strong market acceptance of laser-based therapies across the board. Beyond 2014, many of the companies are adding fat-removal laser technologies to their arsenal—a smart move that should solidify profitability in the laser aesthetics sector for years to come considering that an ABC News report estimates that the Medical & aesthetic

Includes all lasers used for ophthalmology (including refractive surgery and photocoagulation), surgical, dental, therapeutic, skin, hair, and other cosmetic applications.

The pressure on the medical profession to cut costs and improve outcomes will benefit the use of lasers in the long term, but the high costs of lasers have posed a short-term problem. Still, 2014 was a strong year for most medical lasers, with the exception of lasers used for dental applications. Ophthalmic and cosmetic lasers make up the majority of the medical laser revenue, and both grew in revenue in excess of 8% in 2014.

While medical lasers have long played an important role in the developed world, a fast-growing middle class in the developing world accounts for a large and growing portion of total medical laser revenues. In fact, in some areas, medical lasers in developing countries are used for a wider range of medical applications than in developed countries due to the peculiarly long and expensive approval process (and export limitations) that developed countries place on laser technology.