Page 71 - An Introduction to Laser Tattoo Removal

Chapter 2 – Fundamentals of Laser Tattoo Removal v1.0
Both companies claimed that their ‘pico’ lasers were significantly ‘better’ than the conventional Q-switched lasers.
No company has manufactured a picosecond ruby laser – probably because such a device would generate an energy which would be of no use in tattoo removal.
Q-switched versus Picosecond Lasers
How do these lasers compare? There is a lot of debate in the medical/scientific community about whether picosecond lasers are significantly better than nanosecond systems. Let’s have a look at this in some detail...
Nanosecond and picosecond pulses : photothermal vs photoacoustic?
Across the internet there are many ‘mythconceptions’. One of the most commonly occurring is the statement that picosecond lasers induce a photoacoustic reaction in the ink, while Q- switched lasers generate a photothermal reaction. This is usually disseminated by picosecond laser salespeople!!
It is garbage!
Photoacoustic reactions occur when ink absorbs laser energy in a very short timescale. This occurs with both nanoseconds and picoseconds. There is simply not enough time in a nanosecond pulsewidth to induce a photothermal reaction – it is complete nonsense!
1 nanosecond is 1000 picoseconds. So, to be more accurate, such lasers should be called ‘sub-nanosecond’...
A wee tip....
Don’t believe everything a salesman tells you. They’re trying to sell you something.
Many of them will tell you anything to ‘close the deal’!!
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Chapter 2 LEVEL A Laser Tattoo Removal
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