Safe & Effective Laser Tattoo Removal

Astanza lasers are effective at removing unwanted tattoos and minimizing patient side effects. A key way of doing this is selecting the correct wavelengths of light that will be most absorbed by targeted ink and least absorbed by other chromophores in the skin This selectiveness allows your patients to see results and experience the least possible side effects.

Once shattered, tattoo ink particles will be addressed by phagocytosis. Phagocytes – cells found in the blood, bone marrow, and other tissue – ingest pathogens, infectious agents, and other foreign objects in the body. These immune system cells will remove the remnants of tattoo ink in the days and weeks after a laser tattoo removal treatment.

How Laser Light Enters Skin

When laser light is directed at skin, some will be reflected off the outermost layer (the stratum corneum) or by the epidermis. Much will be absorbed by chromophores, including tattoo ink. By selecting the optimal wavelengths and incorporating sufficient energy in each pulse, Astanza lasers are able to maximize the effect of treating unwanted tattoos.

Targeting Tattoos Through Selective Absorption

Chromophores are the part of a molecule responsible for its color. In human skin, key chromophores include melanin, hemoglobin, and water. By selecting wavelengths that are most effectively absorbed by tattoo ink and least effectively absorbed by other chromophores in the skin, the side effects that were most associated with laser procedures by old technology can be minimized.

Melanin gives skin its tone and color and is more prevalent in darker skin types (Fitzpatrick IV-VI). The long 1064nm wavelength is used to remove darker colors of tattoo ink and significantly lowers the risk of hypo-pigmentation (loss of skin color) compared with other wavelengths. Patients of all skin types can generally be treated with the 1064nm wavelength and will see minimal reduction of skin color, which in the vast majority of cases is transient.

Hemoglobin (blood) will be absorbed by the 532nm wavelength that is used to address lighter colored tattoos, most commonly red. Some patients will see purpura (redness, bruising) and infrequently minor, shallow blisters that will generally be resolved within one to two weeks. Water absorption is quite low for 532nm and very moderate for 1064nm.