Drug Delivery: Hollow Copper Sulfide Nanoparticle‐Mediated Transdermal Drug Delivery (Small 20/2012)

W. Lu and co-workers apply hollow copper sulfide nanoparticles with intense photothermal conversion effects for thermal ablation of the stratum corneum through instantaneous heat conduction from an NIR laser. On page 3143, application of a nanosecond-pulsed laser provides short lasing periods but extremely high local temperatures, with focused thermal ablation of the stratum corneum, limiting the heat transfer to deep tissue. Thermal ablation-induced microscale defects are confined within the lasing area. The extent of skin ablation, i.e., removal of stratum corneum, viable epidermis, or dermis, can be precisely controlled by adjusting the laser power.