10/13/2023 0 Comments Black light color converterA recent study has suggested that ordinary blacklights are a less expensive and comparable alternative to Wood’s lamp. However, Wood’s glass is unique in that it blocks much of the visible light passing through the filter. 1 - 2 This glass coats the inside of tubes through which the UV light is transmitted. 13Ī traditional Wood’s lamp contains Wood’s glass, which is a mixture of barium-sodium-silicate glass and 9% nickel oxide. 13 This energy decay process releases photons of visible light. 12 This electronic transition from high to low energy states occurs through vibrational relaxation. Once excited, almost immediately the electrons become unstable and seek their lower energy ground state. 10 - 11 Both of these phosphors contain electrons that can be excited by UV light. Elastin contains several phosphors, one of which is a crosslinking tricarboxylic amino acid with a pyridinium ring, and collagen’s main phosphor is tyrosine, an amino acid. 2 To excite other electrons, photons need to have a certain amount of energy. The skin contains natural phosphors, such as collagen and elastin. Thus, phosphors essentially convert invisible UV light to visible light. When the relatively energetic and short waves of UV light shine on certain substances, known as phosphors, visible light of lower energy and longer wavelength is produced ( Figure 1). To understand how Wood’s lamp functions, one must take a closer look at what is occurring at a molecular level. It is in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum that Wood’s lamp emits light, from 320nm to 400nm, with a peak wavelength of 365nm. Slightly more energetic, and invisible, is ultraviolet light. Perceptible by the human retina, visible light has a narrow range from 700nm (red) to 400nm (violet). Radio waves have the lowest energy and longest wavelengths, whereas gamma rays have the highest energy and shortest wavelengths. Arranged within this spectrum are seven energies: radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma. The electromagnetic spectrum comprises a range of energy that radiates, or travels in waves. 3 - 9 However, Wood’s lamp has arguably gained greatest recognition for its role in dermatology, where it is used to diagnose and monitor an array of fungal and bacterial infections, pigmentary conditions, and metabolic disorders.Ī brief discussion of electromagnetic radiation is warranted to contextualize the role of the Wood’s lamp. Later, the Wood’s lamp found applications in other scientific fields, including criminal forensics, emergency medicine, ophthalmology, gynecology, and veterinary medicine. 1 - 2 Wood primarily used his invention in UV photography. 1 This light source, the Wood’s lamp, had a special filter comprised of barium silicate with 9% nickel oxide that blocked much of the visible electromagnetic spectrum and allowed transmission of ultraviolet (UV) light. In 1903, Robert Williams Wood, a well-known American physicist, developed an instrument that produced an apparent paradox: invisible light.
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