Combustible ink comes to the rescue for tattoo regret

Having someone's name permanently etched into your flesh is considered by some to be the ultimate testament to a relationship. But wouldn't it be great to make that commitment without really making it ... forever?

A new dye due to hit U.S. tattoo parlors this autumn will provide an exit strategy of sorts for people who have thought about getting a tattoo, then wondered if they might someday have regrets.

The permanent but removable ink is made by storing dye in microscopic capsules that will stay in the skin for good. But if that butterfly tattoo on the small of your back starts looking lame, it can be zapped away with a single laser treatment that is simpler and less painful than the barrage of treatments now needed.

The idea was developed in the late 1990s by Rox Anderson, a dermatology professor at Harvard University who founded the New York-based company Freedom-2 in 1999 to bring the product to market.

In 2004, Anderson approached Edith Mathiowitz, a professor of medical science and engineering at Brown University. Mathiowitz specializes in microcapsulating medicines, DNA, hormones and insulin in plastic polymers, which control the time and rate of the drug's release in the body. Some molecules are designed to break open when exposed to heat, ultraviolet light or ultrasound.

Using the same technology, Mathiowitz trapped dye pigments in microscopic beads coated with a safe, biodegradable plastic.

It's possible to remove regular tattoos with lasers, but it can cost thousands of dollars and usually requires between seven to 15 treatments.

With each conventional laser treatment, the dye is broken down into fragments until they are small enough to be carried away by the bloodstream, usually into the lymph nodes. But the Freedom-2 ink particles held in the tiny beads are already small enough. In just one laser treatment, the polymers combust, and the fragments are released and naturally expelled from the body, Mathiowitz said.

Freedom-2 boasts it could save a painful and costly removal process for those who have their heart broken or make a spring break mistake.

"Regret is a strong word, but there are people who are parents or are in a job where they do not want their tattoo to show," said Martin Schmieg, president of Freedom-2. "There are times that your life circle changes things, and the form of self-expression you were proud of in your past just doesn't match now."

At Bambu Tattoo Art Studio in Providence, tattoo artist George Dietz said he's skeptical about whether the ink will last, and said he probably won't use it when it becomes available.

"If people don't want something permanent," he said, "they shouldn't get a tattoo."

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On the Net:

Freedom-2: http://www.freedom2ink.com

Tat2BeGone: http://www.tat2begone.com