Delivery system
Fractional Scanning
The delivery hardware that places a fractional pattern across a treatment area, distributing zones in a controlled array.
A fractional scanner directs the beam to produce an array of discrete treatment zones across an area, with the pattern, spacing, and placement governed by the scanning optics.
What a fractional scanner does
A fractional scanner is the hardware that places the pattern. The laser source produces energy; the scanner decides where each treatment zone lands across the area, producing the controlled array that makes fractional delivery fractional.
Without a scanner there is no pattern — only a beam. The scanner is what converts a source into a system capable of treating a patterned fraction of an area in a repeatable way.
Why it is the real differentiator
Every CO₂ platform shares the same wavelength, so wavelength cannot distinguish one from another. The scanner can. Pattern options, how coverage is adjusted, and how consistently zones are placed are properties of the delivery system.
This is the practical reason two systems with comparable source specifications can feel quite different to operate. Consistency of placement affects how predictable a pass is; the available patterns affect which areas the platform suits; handpiece options affect what the provider can reach comfortably. None of these appear in a wavelength or wattage figure.
For a buyer comparing CO₂ platforms, this reframes the specification sheet. The source numbers establish the category. The delivery numbers describe the device.
Questions worth asking a supplier
Because scanning hardware varies more than sources do, it rewards specific questions:
- Which pattern shapes and sizes does the scanner offer?
- How is coverage adjusted, and across what range?
- Which handpieces are supplied, and which are available separately?
- How is placement consistency maintained across a pass?
These are answerable from a specification sheet and a demonstration. They are also the questions least likely to be addressed in general marketing material, which tends to lead with the source figures every device in the category shares.
Settings versus specifications
A scanner’s capabilities are specifications; the parameters chosen for a given patient are not. Coverage and pattern selection during treatment are provider-directed decisions governed by training and clinical judgement, and are not published here.
The distinction matters for buyers: ask what the hardware can do, and expect treatment parameters to come through training rather than a website.
On the Alexa CO₂ platform
Pro 1 Laser offers CO₂ capability through the Alexa platform, distributed by Laser Equipment Global. The Alexa CO₂ Aesthetic product page documents the system’s specifications, licensing, and regulatory status.
Providers evaluating a specific configuration should request the current specification sheet and see the system demonstrated.
Devices using this technology
Related technologies
FAQs
Is the scanner part of the laser or a separate component?
It is delivery hardware sitting between the laser source and the tissue. The source produces the energy; the scanner determines where each zone is placed across the treatment area.
Why does scanning hardware differ between platforms with the same wavelength?
Because the pattern, spacing, and consistency of placement are properties of the scanner, not of the wavelength. Two systems with identical sources can behave differently in use if their scanning hardware differs.
What should a buyer ask about a scanner?
Which patterns and shapes it offers, how coverage is adjusted, and what handpieces are supplied. These are the figures that differentiate platforms sharing a wavelength.