PicoSure vs Pico Laser —
How They Differ

"Picosecond" describes time. A picosecond pulse is roughly a thousand times shorter than the nanosecond pulse of a Q-switched laser, so a pigment or ink particle has almost no time to pass heat to its surroundings. It is broken mainly by a pressure wave. Less spreading heat means less inflammation, and in Fitzpatrick III to V skin inflammation is what leaves brown marks behind. The pico laser page explains it in detail.

PicoSure laser, made by Cynosure, was introduced for tattoo and pigment work at a 755 nm alexandrite wavelength. Later versions offer optional 1064 nm and 532 nm handpieces and a lens array, Focus, that gathers energy into many tiny high-intensity points for fractional-style treatment.

The DEKA TORO used at Atelier has a 785 nm picosecond emission; the same platform also carries nanosecond emissions at 1064 nm and 532 nm, plus a longer thermal pulse. At Atelier it runs the T2 Frax Radiance protocol, combining pigment work with a thermal tightening step. Other platforms are built mainly around 1064 nm and 532 nm Nd:YAG, with further wavelength handpieces.

Pulse length and energy ranges differ between makers. For a patient, a gap of a few hundred picoseconds matters less than whether the wavelength and energy suit the target and the surrounding skin.

The table compares devices, not results: one laser can treat tattoos, sun spots or texture at very different settings.

Longer wavelengths generally travel deeper, and each ink or pigment colour absorbs some wavelengths better than others.

• Tattoos: black ink absorbs 1064 nm well, which suits dark ink and darker skin. Red and orange inks, and some yellows, respond to 532 nm. Blue and green inks are harder; 755 nm, 785 nm and 730 nm were developed or adapted largely for them. A multi-coloured tattoo may need more than one wavelength, whatever the brand. See tattoo removal.
• Pigment: 532 nm is strongly absorbed by melanin and stays near the surface, suiting superficial marks such as freckles and sun spots. 1064 nm reaches deeper with less absorption by skin pigment on the way, the more conservative choice for dermal pigment and darker skin. 755 nm and 785 nm sit between the two. See pico laser for freckles.
• Texture: every platform offers fractional delivery, which concentrates the beam into tiny zones and leaves intact skin between them, aiming at remodelling rather than clearing one spot.

Most patients in Singapore have Fitzpatrick III to V skin, with more melanin in the epidermis. That melanin competes with the target for each pulse. Absorption is greatest at short wavelengths, falls at 755 nm and 785 nm, and is least at 1064 nm; any energy taken up at the surface becomes heat and inflammation, which in darker skin tends to leave a brown mark.

In a small retrospective series in which Chinese patients were treated with a 755 nm picosecond laser, no post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation was reported, while two patients had temporary pale patches. A short pulse lowers the risk but does not remove it. DEKA states that its 785 nm emission was designed with Fitzpatrick III to V skin in mind; that is a design intention, not a promise about any one person's result.

Melasma is the clearest limit for every brand. Its hormonal, vascular and UV drivers are untouched by any laser, and heat or over-treatment can leave it darker. When pigment worsens after a pico laser, the cause is almost always the settings or the diagnosis rather than the machine.