Page 39 - An Introduction to Laser Tattoo Removal

Chapter 2 – Fundamentals of Laser Tattoo Removal v1.0
Laser Treatment of Tattoos
Scar-free Tattoo Removal – A very brief history
Modern-day scar-free laser tattoo removal was originally developed in Canniesburn Plastic Surgery and Burns Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland in the early 1980s, under the supervision of Mr William Reid (Consultant Plastic Surgeon) and Dr John Evans (Bioengineer from Strathclyde University). They wanted to study the effects of high energy laser on the skin. In fact, Mr Reid wanted to treat paediatric port wine stains, but felt that they had to gain some clinical experience on tattoos first.
Dr Evans did a little research and decided that a high energy, nanosecond ruby laser was the best choice. A scientific laser (originally designed to generate holograms) was purchased in 1981 from an English company called JK Lasers Ltd., and a clinical study was established in the hospital.
Mike joined the program in 1986 and cut his teeth on the tattoo removal program. However, most of his research was on the PWS treatments with a pulsed dye laser (the second ‘long- pulsed’ dye laser produced by the Candela Laser Corp!)
Figure 14: The original QS ruby laser used in the ground-breaking clinical studies in Canniesburn Hospital, Glasgow, 1981
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Chapter 2 LEVEL A Laser Tattoo Removal
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