A new study published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine on March 25 confirmed that ink particles are ejected during laser tattoo removal treatment at speeds so high that they actually become embedded in glass slides held near the treatment site. Author Michael J. Murphy found dark material, presumably fragments of the tattoo ink, on and embedded within glass slides following Q‐switched Nd:YAG laser treatment of tattoos. The particles ranged in size from 12 micrometers to 5mm and, while some were visible to the naked eye and easily washed off, others were visible only through photomicrographs. These fragments were seen 0.2mm to 1mm deep within the slides with evidence of fractured and melted glass.
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