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Time-traveling Senshi

          Regretting that one time in college you were talked into, or don't even remember, getting inked? Don't like the way your ink turned out or what it stands for? Don't want to be forever reminded of a bad relationship (romantic or friendship) or a situation that didn't end in your favor? Want to get your ink removed but don't want to deal with that laser? Well then, a Pathology PHD student in Halifax, Nova Scotia just might have the answer to all of your bad ink woes and painful memories if his miracle cream proves successful.


          Halifax student develops tattoo removal cream

          By Tim Callanan The Canadian Press

          Quote:
          HALIFAX – When Alec Falkenham was getting his first tattoo, he was already thinking of ways to remove it.

          Not that the PhD student at Dalhousie University has any regrets about getting inked. But he saw a connection between his pathology work and the tattooing process.

          “Being a scientist, I was very interested in how a tattoo worked,” he said.

          Falkenham said he realized he could use the same concepts from his work on heart cells to target cells containing tattoo pigment.

          Now he says he has developed a topical cream that could eventually remove tattoos from people’s skin.

          Falkenham’s method, which he calls bisphosphonate liposomal tattoo removal, is still in the research stages. But he says it could become an alternative to the current options.

          “You’re destroying the skin in the process of all the other techniques I’ve seen so far,” said Falkenham. “What we’re trying to do is stay away from actually destroying the skin while still removing the tattoo.”

          Falkenham’s cream allows a drug to penetrate the skin, killing cells that hold tattoo pigment while leaving the surrounding cells untouched.

          He said laser removal, by contrast, heats the pigment, which can cause cells to rupture and lead to blisters and scarring.

          But scarring is not always to be expected with laser tattoo removal, said Marina Munroe, who operates Clean Canvas Tattoo Removal in Halifax and performs laser treatments.

          “It’s definitely a partnership when you remove someone’s tattoo,” Munroe said. “Not only does the session have to be done correctly, but the person has to take care of it.”

          Laser removal at Munroe’s clinic generally costs $75 per square inch for one session. Munroe said most clients receive between three and six sessions, with effectiveness depending on the state of the tattoo.

          The topical cream Falkenham is developing costs about 4.5 cents per square centimetre for each treatment. However, he cannot say how many treatments would be necessary because at this point he is only working on mice.

          One in five Canadians has at least one tattoo, according to an Ipsos Reid poll conducted in 2012. The same poll says a tenth of the Canadians who get tattoos regret having them.

          “We obviously have a lot of interest. I often hear from people asking if they can be a guinea pig,” Falkenham said, laughing.

          For now, he and his research team are planning to move on to larger animals such as pigs. But Falkenham said he hopes the cream will eventually become a consumer product.


          (Source)

Kawaii Shoujo

Hopefully when it's suitable for human testing it will work.

Time-traveling Senshi

fairy-phoenix
Hopefully when it's suitable for human testing it will work.


          Let's keep our fingers crossed on that. Because boy howdy can I think of the perfect candidate for this stuff when it's successful on humans. There's a certain Miami Heat power forward who definitely looks like a dirty urban gangster wannabe because he's turned his body into a living scrapbook that could stand to have his neck cleaned off. xp .

Snuggly Buddy

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Halifax student develops tattoo removal cream

So really the headline should be that he is trying to develop a tattoo removal cream.
But it sounds nice if he can make it work.

because at this point he is only working on mice.

Cue the PETA ninjas to steal into his facility and rescue the tattooed biker mice. smile

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

Hilarious Puppy

David2074
Halifax student develops tattoo removal cream

So really the headline should be that he is trying to develop a tattoo removal cream.
But it sounds nice if he can make it work.

because at this point he is only working on mice.

Cue the PETA ninjas to steal into his facility and rescue the tattooed biker mice. smile

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

Oh darn, you bet me too it. I wonder what kind of tattoo a mouse would get. Hmm...

I can see a gruff mouse, whose spent years in prison, he's ripped, doesn't really talk anymore and... oddly wears yellow clown shoes. His only reminder of his outside life is a pink heart tattoo with "Minnie" inscribed on it. The one he loved. The one he lost...

Oh my God, I've just invented the saddest back story in the history of back stories belonging to mice who are busy undergoing tattoo removal experiments! gonk

Time-traveling Senshi

David2074
Halifax student develops tattoo removal cream

So really the headline should be that he is trying to develop a tattoo removal cream.
But it sounds nice if he can make it work.

because at this point he is only working on mice.

Cue the PETA ninjas to steal into his facility and rescue the tattooed biker mice. smile

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


          Hey if it can remove those tattoo like brands (the kind that gets permanently stamped onto the inside of the bottom lip of an animal or on a specific spot on the body) on the larger animals he wants to work with then he can move onto clinical trials on humans. It doesn't say if the cream will remove multi-colored tattoos or just monochrome tattoos so there's probably a lot more research he has to do before he can call the cream a success.

Snuggly Buddy

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David2074
Halifax student develops tattoo removal cream

So really the headline should be that he is trying to develop a tattoo removal cream.
But it sounds nice if he can make it work.

because at this point he is only working on mice.

Cue the PETA ninjas to steal into his facility and rescue the tattooed biker mice. smile

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


          Hey if it can remove those tattoo like brands (the kind that gets permanently stamped onto the inside of the bottom lip of an animal or on a specific spot on the body) on the larger animals he wants to work with then he can move onto clinical trials on humans. It doesn't say if the cream will remove multi-colored tattoos or just monochrome tattoos so there's probably a lot more research he has to do before he can call the cream a success.



I don't know much about tattoo removal but from the other stuff I have seen some colors are easier to remove than others. And probably related - even if you want to keep your tattoo some colors fade faster than others and sometimes need to be touched up.
So while the concept may work in general if he gets it working - the color will probably play into the part about not sure how many applications will be required.

Time-traveling Senshi

David2074
Chibi Halo
David2074
Halifax student develops tattoo removal cream

So really the headline should be that he is trying to develop a tattoo removal cream.
But it sounds nice if he can make it work.

because at this point he is only working on mice.

Cue the PETA ninjas to steal into his facility and rescue the tattooed biker mice. smile

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


          Hey if it can remove those tattoo like brands (the kind that gets permanently stamped onto the inside of the bottom lip of an animal or on a specific spot on the body) on the larger animals he wants to work with then he can move onto clinical trials on humans. It doesn't say if the cream will remove multi-colored tattoos or just monochrome tattoos so there's probably a lot more research he has to do before he can call the cream a success.



I don't know much about tattoo removal but from the other stuff I have seen some colors are easier to remove than others. And probably related - even if you want to keep your tattoo some colors fade faster than others and sometimes need to be touched up.
So while the concept may work in general if he gets it working - the color will probably play into the part about not sure how many applications will be required.


          Yeah something simple like monochrome Greek letters or the single color branding might come off easier than what "Birdman" from the Miami Heat has all over his body.

Snuggly Buddy

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David2074
Chibi Halo
David2074
Halifax student develops tattoo removal cream

So really the headline should be that he is trying to develop a tattoo removal cream.
But it sounds nice if he can make it work.

because at this point he is only working on mice.

Cue the PETA ninjas to steal into his facility and rescue the tattooed biker mice. smile

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


          Hey if it can remove those tattoo like brands (the kind that gets permanently stamped onto the inside of the bottom lip of an animal or on a specific spot on the body) on the larger animals he wants to work with then he can move onto clinical trials on humans. It doesn't say if the cream will remove multi-colored tattoos or just monochrome tattoos so there's probably a lot more research he has to do before he can call the cream a success.



I don't know much about tattoo removal but from the other stuff I have seen some colors are easier to remove than others. And probably related - even if you want to keep your tattoo some colors fade faster than others and sometimes need to be touched up.
So while the concept may work in general if he gets it working - the color will probably play into the part about not sure how many applications will be required.


          Yeah something simple like monochrome Greek letters or the single color branding might come off easier than what "Birdman" from the Miami Heat has all over his body.



I had to google on birdman but yeah - probably.
It may sound like nit picking but it is a lot less about whether it is all one color (monochrome) and more about whether your tattoo includes a chemical (color of ink) that is difficult to remove.
At least that is how it is with current tattoo removal techniques based on some shows I have seen. If there is a large area a single color the problem is if it is a problematic color to remove, not whether or not there is more than one color involved.
Though I do agree that looking like birdman pretty much guarantees your body art includes some of the problematic inks. On the other hand people like that are probably less likely to be trying to have the tattoos removed unless it is to make room for newer more preferred tattoos. In which case it becomes easier because if the old tattoo ink is faded but not completely removed, inking over it would probably hide that.

Ice-Cold Bloodsucker

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Hopefully it'll work.

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That girl whose ex gave her the shittiest tattoo ever would like this.

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