A new laser treatment study tests how certain wavelengths of infrared laser light can possibly remove extra body fat and treat severe cases of acne.

The study conducted in Jefferson Lab and led by Rox Anderson, a dermatologist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, may provide a new way for a laser to heat fat tissues without the skin damaging effects of liposuction.

“We can kill fat cells without destroying the overlying skin,” Anderson said. “It does not involve sticking you with a needle. All it involves is an otherwise harmless laser light.”

Two years ago, Anderson and his team of researchers upgraded the power on their Free Electron Laser to 10 kilowatts—approximately 10 million times more powerful than a scanner at a grocery store.

Usually infrared wavelengths heat water more effectively than they heat fat, which would cause the skin to burn before the light reached the underlying fat tissue.

But the new study, which tested pork fat and human tissue, found two promising wavelengths that heat fat much more efficiently than water. This means that when they tune a laser to the specific wavelengths, the treatment could eliminate oil-dispensing glands in the skin that are the cause of severe acne as well as blast fatty tissue.

The Jefferson lab future laser treatments will undergo additional tests to determine the safety and effectiveness of the procedures. If all goes well, the new laser treatments could provide an alternative to liposuction surgery and possibly replace the dangerous acne drug, Accutane.

Furthermore, Anderson’s research could possibly lead to the treatment of a type of arteriosclerosis arising from fat build-up in medium and large-sized arteries, which could cause heart disease and stroke.

Anderson expects to conduct human tests in the following year and hopes the new laser treatments will be available to consumers in two years.