Page 38 - An Introduction to Laser Tattoo Removal

Chapter 2 – Fundamentals of Laser Tattoo Removal v1.0
Section 2.2 The Fundamentals of Laser Tattoo Removal
Lasers were invented by Theodore Maiman in May 1960. Soon after, clinical researchers started to use them in various medical applications. Goldman started looking into tattoo removal in 1964, but without success. In 1980 Bill Reid (consultant plastic surgeon, Canniesburn Hospital, Glasgow) asked John Evans (bioengineer, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) if he could set up a clinical study into the removal of paediatric port wine stains. To gain some experience in using lasers in the skin, they decided to first look at tattoo removal with a Q-switched ruby laser. The rest is, as they say, history...
Laser Tattoo Removal Timeline
The following is a ‘brief’ timeline of some important events in the development of medical/aesthetic tattoo removal lasers:
1960 - Ruby laser invented by Theodore Maiman in the AT&T Labs.......
1964 – Goldman starts to test long pulsed ruby lasers in treating tattoos
1980 – Scar-free laser tattoo removal program began in Canniesburn Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Glasgow, Scotland with a Q-switched Ruby
1990 – The world's first commercial laser tattoo clinic is opened in Glasgow, Scotland – QS Ruby
1991 – DermaLase Ltd (Scotland) launch the DLR-1 QS Ruby Laser into the international market for tattoo and benign pigmented lesion removal (this was Mike’s first company)
2013 – Cynosure (US) launch the world’s first commercial picosecond laser for tattoo removal
There currently exists a range of lasers used routinely in the scar-free removal of tattoos. These are the Q-switched and the pico-second lasers.
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Chapter 2 LEVEL A Laser Tattoo Removal
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