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Clearance of yellow tattoo ink with a novel 532‐nm picosecond laser
Author(s) -
Alabdulrazzaq Hamad,
Brauer Jeremy A.,
Bae YoonSoo,
Geronemus Roy G.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.22354
Subject(s) - picosecond , medicine , laser , dermatology , materials science , case series , surgery , optics , pathology , alternative medicine , physics
Abstract Background and Objectives Although technology and tattoo removal methods continue to evolve, yellow pigment clearance continues to be challenging and usually unsuccessful. We describe a case series of six tattoos containing yellow ink, successfully treated with a frequency‐doubled Nd:YAG 532‐nm picosecond laser. Study Design/Materials and Methods Case series with six subjects participating for the treatment of multicolored tattoos that contain yellow pigment. Treatments performed with a frequency‐doubled Nd:YAG 532‐nm picosecond laser at 6–8 week intervals. Results One subject achieved complete clearance of the treated site after one session, and five subjects required 2–4 treatments to achieve over 75% clearance. Minimal downtime was experienced, and no scarring or textural skin changes were observed in any of the treated sites. Conclusions This is the first case series that demonstrates effective and consistent reduction of yellow tattoo ink using a frequency doubled Nd:YAG 532‐nm laser with a picosecond pulse duration. Treatments were well tolerated and subjects had positive outcomes. This is a small observational case series from an ongoing clinical trial, and studies with a larger sample size and comparative group are needed in the future. in vivo . Lasers Surg. Med. 47:285–288, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.