About
Mike Murphy, Lisa McMahon &
PA Torstensson
With more than 60 years' experience in the medical/aesthetic laser/IPL field, we are well placed to assist you with your training requirements.
You can email us if you have any ideas or comments.
Mike Murphy has spent many years in the medical laser industry. His first company, Derma-Lase Limited, was borne out of clinical research in Canniesburn Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland into the removal of tattoos and benign pigment lesions using the Q-switched ruby laser in the 1980s. He was involved in the original research program from 1986, and also studied the effects of the pulsed dye laser on vascular lesions (including paediatric port wine stains).
In fact, his group purchased the second long-pulsed dye laser produced by Dr Horace Furomoto in the very early days of Candela (the first being purchased by Dr Rox Anderson’s group in Boston). While working in the hospital Mike became the Laser Safety Officer responsible for the safe use of all the lasers within the Canniesburn Laser Suite.
In 1989 Mike and his colleagues formed Derma-Lase to sell the DLR1 ruby laser across the world with many sales in America and in South East Asia. They opened the world’s first tattoo removal clinic in Glasgow, Scotland using a Q-switched ruby laser. Two years later they launched the world’s first commercial Q-switched Nd:YAG laser for dermatological applications, the DL MultiLine Laser.
In 1996 Mike left Derma-Lase to pursue new avenues, in particular the removal of hair using intense pulsed light. He worked with colleagues, including PA Torstensson, in Sweden to help produce one of the world’s first commercial IPL systems – the Plasmalite. This system went on to sell extremely well across most European countries and in Asia. To open the market in the UK he opened the first clinic outside of London with a Plasmalite system in 1999 in Glasgow. The Athena Centre became one of the UK’s top hi-tech centres for cosmetic procedures with a varied range of state-of-the-art IPL, laser, RF and cryo equipment.
In 2010 Mike started DermaLase Training Services in response to many requests for such training. Mike has been training medical and aesthetic personnel in the use of lasers since 1991, and with IPL systems since 1999.
Mike is a certified Laser Protection Advisor and General Secretary of the Association of Laser Safety Professionals. He is also the General Secretary and Treasurer of the UK Council on Surgical Plumes.
His training site is at Dermalase Training and you can find his LPA site at MikeMurphyLPA. If you are interested in his publications please click here.
You can find more information on Mike’s blog at MikeMurphyBlog.com
Per-Arne Torstensson.....
Per-Arne is a physicist with a long history in lasers and LEDs and their application, both in scientific and medical fields. He was one of the original scientists in the development of IPL technology and helped to launch one of the world’s first multi-functional device in the late 1990s, the PhotoNova PLS3 system.
Unlike most laser/IPL manufacturers, PA’s approach was to identify the problem and then work out the best set of parameters which were required to tackle it. Most companies produce a machine then look for an application! Or they copy someone else’s device.
PA spent over 25 years developing their IPL and laser technology, which was sold across the world. He also designed the world’s first IPL meter capable of accurately measuring both the fluence and pulsewidth. In addition, he developed a skin-colour measuring device using three output wavelengths.
Like Mike, PA has spent more than 25 years training laser/IPL users in the application of the removal of hair, blood vessels, benign pigmentation, acne and other conditions. He also works on newer technologies including IR and LED devices.
PA is based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
