Published 29 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
T2 Laser Tattoo Removal on the DEKA TORO is Dr Sin Yong's staged laser tattoo removal protocol in Singapore. Each ink colour is matched to a wavelength and pulse it absorbs: 1064 nm nanosecond for black and dark inks, 532 nm nanosecond for red, orange and purple, and 785 nm picosecond for green and blue. Settings follow your skin type, and healing is reviewed before every next visit.
Short answerT2 Laser Tattoo Removal uses three wavelengths on one platform, the DEKA TORO, so that each colour in a tattoo is treated with light it absorbs. It is staged, it is planned around your skin type, and complete clearance cannot be promised for any tattoo.
T2 stands for Targeted Tattoo: each ink colour in the tattoo is targeted with the wavelength it absorbs. T2 Laser Tattoo Removal is Dr Sin Yong's staged tattoo removal protocol on the DEKA TORO, a single laser platform with three wavelengths in two pulse regimes. Instead of treating every tattoo with one wavelength, it matches the wavelength and pulse to each ink colour: 1064 nm nanosecond for black and dark inks, 532 nm nanosecond for red, orange and purple, and 785 nm picosecond for green and blue. Energy is chosen for your skin type, and healing is reviewed before each next visit.
Illustrative image — not a patient.
The mechanism is that of any laser tattoo removal, set out on the tattoo removal Singapore page: short pulses fracture ink particles in the dermis, and the immune system carries the fragments away gradually between treatments. What T2 adds is the choice of wavelength and pulse colour by colour, within one platform, revisited at every review.
What it is not
Not a single visit: the body clears fragmented ink slowly, so treatment is staged.
Not a shortcut: matching the wavelength gives each ink light it absorbs; complete clearance cannot be promised for any tattoo.
Not T2 Frax Radiance:T2 Frax Radiance is his separate pigment and pore protocol on the same TORO, working on skin, not ink.
Every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong after an in-person evaluation.
DEKA TORO tattoo removal: three wavelengths, picosecond and nanosecond
DEKA TORO tattoo removal runs on a platform made by DEKA, the Italian laser manufacturer in the El.En. group. The TORO is a Q-switched Nd:YAG system combining picosecond and nanosecond emissions across three wavelengths: 785 nm picosecond, plus 532 nm and 1064 nm nanosecond. It was cleared by the US FDA under 510(k) K240752 on 16 May 2024. Dr Sin Yong is a Global DEKA Key Opinion Leader, and his clinic is a DEKA Centre of Excellence.
What each pulse regime does
A nanosecond pulse lasts about a billionth of a second and fractures ink with a mix of pressure and heat. It is the long-established pulse for dark ink at 1064 nm and for red and orange ink at 532 nm. The TORO's FDA clearance lists dark inks (black, blue, brown) for 1064 nm and light inks (red, orange, purple, tan, sky blue, green) for 532 nm.
A picosecond pulse is roughly a thousand times shorter. The 785 nm source is titanium-sapphire, with a pulse in the hundreds of picoseconds, so more of the work is done by a pressure effect and less heat spreads into the skin around the ink. DEKA describes 785 nm as well absorbed by melanin and less by haemoglobin; its FDA tattoo indication is green and blue ink, in Fitzpatrick II to IV skin.
Handpieces and the thermal mode
Square-spot handpieces, which DEKA suggests for tattoo removal, let passes tile edge to edge without gaps or overlap, and a zoom handpiece changes spot size. Repetition runs up to 20 Hz, a specification rather than a promise. The longer-pulsed 1064 nm thermal mode belongs to T2 Frax Radiance and skin work, not to ink. The term is defined under DEKA TORO laser.
“A tattoo with three colours is three different targets. I match a wavelength to each one, and I set the energy for the skin around the ink, not for the ink alone.”
Dr Sin YongOn matching wavelength to ink colour
Multi-wavelength tattoo removal: which wavelength for which ink colour
Multi-wavelength tattoo removal means each colour in the tattoo is treated with a wavelength that colour absorbs. Black absorbs across a wide range, so 1064 nm, which skin melanin absorbs less, is used for it. Red, orange and purple absorb 532 nm. Green and blue absorb red light, which is where the 785 nm picosecond emission sits. The wavelength for each ink in your tattoo is decided at the evaluation.
Ink colour
TORO wavelength and pulse
What to expect
Black, dark blue, dark brown
1064 nm nanosecond
Respond most readily; clearance still cannot be promised
Red, orange, purple
532 nm nanosecond
Red ink can provoke an allergic reaction as it is released
Green and blue
785 nm picosecond
More stubborn than black; wavelength choice matters most here
Sky blue, tan, light green
532 nm nanosecond, assessed per tattoo
Response varies with depth and density
Yellow and white
Poorly absorbed by most wavelengths
The hardest to clear; may lighten rather than clear
Brown or flesh-tone cosmetic ink
Test area first
Iron oxide or titanium dioxide can darken or turn grey
A multicoloured tattoo can need more than one wavelength in the same visit, which one platform allows without changing machines. That is a convenience in planning, not a promise of fewer visits. Dense professional ink, layered cover-ups and scarred tattoos remain the hardest cases for any laser; sparser amateur ink often responds more readily. See colour tattoo removal for each colour, and tattoo removal suitability for density and layering.
Pico laser tattoo removal in Singapore: what picosecond changes, and what it does not
Pico laser tattoo removal in Singapore is often searched as if picosecond were a different treatment. It is the same process with a shorter pulse. In picosecond laser tattoo removal the pulse ends before much heat passes from the ink particle to the skin, so the particle breaks mainly by a pressure effect and the fragments tend to be smaller. That is why picosecond pulses are generally preferred for many inks, and why the TORO uses one for green and blue.
What a shorter pulse does not change
It does not fix the number of visits; the skin must still heal between treatments.
It does not make yellow and white ink absorb light they do not absorb.
It does not remove the risk of darkening or lightening in medium and darker skin.
It does not undo scarring from the original tattooing.
Nanosecond pulses have not been replaced: black ink fragments well at 1064 nm and red at 532 nm. So a T2 plan is neither a picosecond plan nor a nanosecond plan; it uses the pulse that suits each colour. The pico vs Q-switched laser page explains the physics, and PicoWay vs PicoSure vs DEKA TORO compares three platforms.
T2 Laser Tattoo Removal on Asian and darker skin
T2 Laser Tattoo Removal on Asian and darker skin is planned with the skin setting the terms. The laser passes through epidermal melanin to reach the ink, and in Fitzpatrick III to V skin part of that energy is absorbed on the way. The area can then darken for a while, which is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or lighten, and lightening can be slow to recover. Darker skin is not a reason to refuse treatment; it changes the plan:
Wavelength: 1064 nm is absorbed less by epidermal melanin, so it is favoured for dark ink in darker skin.
Green and blue ink: the 785 nm tattoo indication covers Fitzpatrick II to IV, so these colours in darker skin are approached with particular care, often with a test area first.
Energy: set for the skin around the ink, at a level that is useful rather than repeated at settings too low to help.
Sun: a fresh tan is a reason to wait, and sun protection on healed skin continues between visits.
Review: a dark or pale patch from the last visit changes the next settings.
Who suits T2 Laser Tattoo Removal, who waits and who is referred
Who suits T2 Laser Tattoo Removal is decided from the ink and the skin. It tends to suit professional or amateur tattoos on intact, untanned skin, in someone who accepts that removal is staged and complete clearance cannot be promised. It also suits fading before a cover-up, a shorter course aimed at lightening; the cover-up art is done by a tattoo artist, not here.
Better to wait
Pregnancy
Broken, infected or freshly tanned skin over the tattoo
Recent isotretinoin, photosensitising medicines or past gold injections, reviewed first
Examined first, and sometimes referred
A mole inside the tattoo: examined before any laser, because laser over a lesion that needs a diagnosis removes the clue a doctor needs.
A small tattoo where excision suits: referred to a plastic surgery specialist.
A raised, itchy tattoo or red-ink reaction: treated as a skin problem first.
Tattoo removal creams are not used; there is no reliable evidence that they remove ink from the dermis.
How a T2 Laser Tattoo Removal plan runs, and when to call
A T2 Laser Tattoo Removal plan runs in the same order every time, and you are not treated on the day of the consultation.
Evaluation: each ink colour, density, location, layering and any scarring, your skin type, and your history of medicines, sun and scarring.
Written plan and quote: which wavelength for which colour, any test area, and how review decides each step.
Test area: for cosmetic pigment, or where the skin's reaction is uncertain.
Staged visits: eye protection and cooling or topical anaesthetic as planned; the ink turns white as the laser passes.
Review: healing is checked and the next step is set from how the tattoo and skin look. No count is fixed in advance.
Whitening, redness, swelling, pinpoint bleeding, blisters and scabs are expected after each visit. Scarring is uncommon when settings are appropriate and aftercare is followed, and more likely with picking, infection or sun on healing skin. See tattoo removal downtime and tattoo removal aftercare.
When to call
Thick, yellow or oozing crusts, or broken blisters that look infected
Spreading redness, or pain, swelling or warmth that increases
Itching beyond the tattoo, or fever
A patch that darkens or lightens after healing
Contact the clinic during clinic hours. Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat with difficulty breathing is an emergency: go to the nearest emergency department, as complication care explains.
What sets the fee for T2 Laser Tattoo Removal
The fee for T2 Laser Tattoo Removal follows the plan. Singapore's rules prevent clinics from advertising fees, and a figure before the tattoo has been seen would describe a plan that does not exist, so a written quote follows the evaluation.
Size and location: a larger tattoo takes more laser time per visit.
Colours and wavelengths: a black tattoo is planned on one wavelength; a multicoloured piece may need two or three.
Density and depth: dense professional ink and layered cover-ups extend the staged plan.
Scarring or cosmetic pigment: assessed first; a cosmetic test area is itemised.
Skin type: pacing in darker skin changes the plan, not the aim.
Staging: the count cannot be fixed in advance, so the quote is reviewed as treatment goes on.
1. MessageWhatsApp +65 8023 7170 with what is bothering you. A reply comes from the clinic, not a bot.
2. AssessmentDr Sin Yong examines you himself on Orchard Road, with ultrasound where earlier filler is involved.
3. A plan in writingWhat he would do, what he would not, the fee factors, and the option of no treatment.
Every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong personally. Singapore Medical Council registered · invited to share his clinical expertise internationally for CLASSYS, DEKA, Fotona, Hironic and Ilooda.
Bring a photo of the tattoo and say how it was done, by whom, and whether it was ever raised or itchy. How consultations work.
T2 Laser Tattoo Removal is Dr Sin Yong's staged tattoo removal protocol on the DEKA TORO. The wavelength and pulse are matched to each ink colour: 1064 nm nanosecond for black and dark inks, 532 nm nanosecond for red, orange and purple, and 785 nm picosecond for green and blue. Settings follow your skin type, healing is reviewed before each next visit, and complete clearance cannot be promised.
T2 stands for Targeted Tattoo. Each ink colour in the tattoo is targeted with the wavelength it absorbs on the DEKA TORO: 1064 nm nanosecond for black and dark inks, 532 nm nanosecond for red, orange and purple, and 785 nm picosecond for green and blue. It describes how the plan is built, not a promise of faster or complete removal. T2 Frax Radiance, his pigment protocol on the same laser, uses T2 for Tighten and Tone.
It depends on the ink. Picosecond pulses break particles mainly by pressure, with less heat, and are generally preferred for many inks, including green and blue. Nanosecond pulses remain established for black at 1064 nm and red at 532 nm. Neither pulse makes removal quicker to promise, and settings and skin type still decide the risk. In T2 Laser Tattoo Removal each colour gets the pulse that suits it.
Each colour needs a wavelength it absorbs. On the DEKA TORO, red, orange and purple are treated at 532 nm nanosecond, green and blue at 785 nm picosecond, and black at 1064 nm nanosecond. Yellow and white absorb poorly at most wavelengths and are the hardest to clear. A multicoloured tattoo may need several wavelengths, decided at the evaluation and reviewed as treatment goes on.
T2 Laser Tattoo Removal can be planned for medium and darker skin, with the skin setting the terms. Fitzpatrick III to V skin can darken or lighten after treatment, so 1064 nm is favoured for dark ink, energy is set for the skin, green or blue ink is approached with particular care, a test area is often treated first, and sun protection continues between visits. Black ink is the most straightforward case.
Sometimes, and always cautiously. Brow pigments often contain iron oxide or titanium dioxide, which can darken or turn grey under laser instead of fading, so a small test area is treated and reviewed first, and the plan may conclude that laser is not the route. Protective eyewear is used near the eye. The eyebrow embroidery removal page explains the approach.
No number is fixed in advance. It depends on the ink colours, density and depth, any layering or scarring, the location and your skin type, and the skin must heal fully between visits. Dr Sin Yong reviews the tattoo and the skin at each visit and sets the next step from what he sees. Some tattoos fade a long way without clearing completely.
References
510(k) Premarket Notification K240752: DEKA TORO (El.En. S.p.A.), cleared 16 May 2024. US Food and Drug Administration (via Innolitics 510(k) database), 2024. source
Cosmetic tattoo ink darkening. A complication of Q-switched and pulsed-laser treatment. Archives of Dermatology 129(8):1010-1014, 1993. source
About this page: written and medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong, MBBS (NUS), MRCS (Edinburgh) · Last reviewed 29 October 2026 · Illustrative images only, not patients · Editorial policy
