the melanosome. Because this damage occurs over
a time period shorter than the melanosome's
thermal relaxation time, the absorbed energy is
confined to the targeted melanin-containing
melanosomes within melanocytes and
keratinocytes. Selective destruction of
melanosomes results without damage to
surrounding tissue structures.
The pigmented skin of guinea pigs and human
volunteers has been shown to respond to short
laser pulses over a wide range of visible light
wavelengths. Lasers that target pigment include
the pulsed dye (510 nm), copper vapor (511
nm), krypton (520-530 nm), frequency-doubled
Q-switched Nd:YAG (532 nm), 0-switched
ruby (694 nm), 0