- Wood's lamp
A Wood's lamp is a diagnostic tool used in
dermatology by whichultraviolet light is shone (at a wavelength of approximately 365 nanometers) onto the skin of the patient; a technician then observes any subsequentfluorescence . For example,porphyrins — associated with some skin diseases — will fluoresce pink. Though the technique for producing a source of ultraviolet light was devised byRobert Williams Wood in 1903 using "Wood's glass ", it wasn't until 1925 that the technique was used indermatology by Margarot and Deveze for the detection of fungal infection of hair.Clinical use
Wood's light is useful in diagnosing conditions such as
tuberous sclerosis cite web |url=http://www.aafp.org/afp/20070401/photo.html |title=Photo Quiz - April 1, 2007 -- American Family Physician |format= |work= |accessdate=] anderythrasma ,cite journal |author=Morales-Trujillo ML, Arenas R, Arroyo S |title= [Interdigital erythrasma: clinical, epidemiologic, and microbiologic findings.] |language=Spanish; Castilian |journal=Actas Dermosifiliogr |volume=99 |issue=6 |pages=469–73 |year=2008 |month=July |pmid=18558055 |doi= |url=http://www.elsevier.es/revistas/0001-7310/99/469] both in distinguishing them from other conditions and in locating the precise boundaries of the condition. It is also helpful in diagnosingfungal infections ("Microsporum audouini "),bacterial infections ("Corynebacteriium minutissimum ", "Pseudomonas "), and pigmentary disorders.Furthermore, a Wood's lamp may be used to rapidly assess whether a subject is suffering from ethylene glycol poisoning as a consequence of
antifreeze ingestion. Manufacturers of ethylene glycol containing Antifreezes commonly addfluorescein , which causes the patient's urine to fluoresce under Wood's Lamp.cite journal |author=Winter ML, Ellis MD, Snodgrass WR |title=Urine fluorescence using a Wood's lamp to detect the antifreeze additive sodium fluorescein: a qualitative adjunctive test in suspected ethylene glycol ingestions |journal=Ann Emerg Med |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=663–7 |year=1990 |month=June |pmid=2344083 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0196-0644(05)82472-2]Its use in detecting
melanoma has been reported.cite journal |author=Paraskevas LR, Halpern AC, Marghoob AA |title=Utility of the Wood's light: five cases from a pigmented lesion clinic |journal=Br. J. Dermatol. |volume=152 |issue=5 |pages=1039–44 |year=2005 |pmid=15888167 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2133.2005.06346.x] indications:fungal(tenia capitis:gives blue-green flurescent) (trichophyton:yellow flurescent)ee also
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Wood's glass
*Black light References
External links
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* [http://www.skincareguide.ca/glossary/w/wood's_light.html Skin Care Guide]
* [http://www.homephototherapy.com/woodslamp.htm Wood's lamp]
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