Sciton BBL HERO

BBL HERO is the 2020 generation of Sciton's BroadBand Light, a filtered pulsed light source. HERO stands for High Energy Rapid Output. It is a handpiece and light module, not a standalone console, and it runs on Sciton's JOULE platforms and on the compact mJOULE introduced in June 2020. Sciton's specification sheet lists a 420 to 1400 nm output range, fluence up to 30 J/cm2, pulse widths up to 200 ms, repetition rates up to 20 Hz and a 15 x 45 mm treatment window.

A complete kit has the dual lamp handpiece, quick change Smart Filters and Finesse spot adapters. Sciton lists filters at 420, 515, 560, 590, 640, 695 and 800 nm, plus ST versions used for its SkinTyte heating mode, and adapters in 15 x 15 mm square, 11 mm round and 7 mm round sizes, with a 3 mm round adapter in later literature. A 532+ narrowband filter is offered only to buyers of Sciton's ClearV or ClearSilk lasers. Forever Young, Forever Clear and Forever Bare are Sciton's names for treatment protocols on this same hardware, not separate attachments.

Sciton rates HERO at four times the speed, three times the peak power and twice the cooling of the original BBL, whose Profile BBL System was cleared by FDA in November 2003. In April 2024 Sciton announced BBL HEROic, which adds a Skin Positioning System motion sensor, Intelligent Control software, a carbon fiber boom and status LEDs on the handpiece. If your handpiece has those LEDs, it is a HEROic rather than a HERO.

A buyer wants to know which console the handpiece is paired with and to see that console's serial label. Count the filters and adapters and photograph each one, since a missing 420 nm or 800 nm filter changes what the system can do. Close photos of the sapphire plate and filter faces show chips or scratches. Add the software version, the usage figures the system reports and the service record.