BOSTON -- It's used in flat screen TVs, fluorescent lighting and computer chips, and now, plasma, an energized gas, is being used to rejuvenate the skin.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported Tuesday that new anti-aging technology is being used by some dermatologists as an alternative to lasers.

Ginna Parker is being prepped for the last of three procedures that promises to soften wrinkles, remove brown spots from sun damage and tighten the skin with very little discomfort and recovery. A local anesthetic is applied to her face.

"The tone and texture of my face is smoother now and clearer and some of wrinkles have diminished," Parker said.

It's called portrait plasma skin regeneration. A hand piece delivers millisecond pulses of a highly-energized plasma gas at and below the skin's surface, replacing old, damaged collagen with new.

"It's a whole list of things you can do in a noninvasive manner, and the skin stays intact this whole time, and so it acts, actually, as a protective membrane as there is regeneration of skin and new collagen formation," Skin Care Physicians of Chestnut Hill's Dr. Kenneth Arndt said.

During recovery, the skin reddens, eventually dries out and flakes away to reveal a fresher face.

"I've noticed brown spots have been cleared up, rosacea," Parker said.

There are laser treatments that have similar results, but involve taking off the surface of the skin, requiring more healing time.

Dermatologist Dr. Matt Avram of Massachusetts General Hospital called it an interesting science but said there are laser procedures with the same benefit that have the test of time behind them.

"I don't see it as a dramatic breakthrough. I see it rather as another complement to the other devices that are being used in dermatology to rejuvenate skin," Avram said.

"My husband and my daughter both have said to me they've see a huge change, and they've seen me daily," Parker said.

The plasma procedure has only been in use for less than one year, so there's no long-term studies on how long the benefits last.

Doctors said the regenerated collagen will continue to increase for awhile, and with the use of sunscreen, that new look could last a long time.