Every skin tone deserves confident, expert treatment.

Built for every skin tone — the science behind the promise

For too long, patients with darker skin have been told to wait, to travel, or to accept "we don't treat skin like yours here." The Pro 1 Pico is designed around a different starting point: darker skin deserves the same confident, expert, provider-directed treatment as any other — with the right wavelength, the right pulse, and conservative endpoints at every step.

The reason comes down to physics. Epidermal melanin competes with the intended target for the laser's energy — get the wavelength wrong and that surface melanin absorbs energy meant for the pigment underneath. The Pro 1 Pico is built around the answer to that problem.

• 1064 nm — the deeper workhorse. It penetrates more deeply and interacts less with epidermal melanin, sparing the surface pigment that makes darker skin more reactive to laser energy. That is why 1064 nm is the wavelength preferred across broader Fitzpatrick types — the platform's foundation, not an afterthought.⁷
• Picosecond, not milliseconds. The Pro 1 Pico delivers energy in the picosecond domain (500 ps) — concentrating it in time and limiting thermal diffusion.
• PTP — Photoacoustic Twin Pulse. Energy is delivered as twin sub-pulses to fragment pigment mechanically, with a low thermal load — a photoacoustic effect rather than heat. Lower heat is precisely why the photoacoustic 1064 nm approach carries a low post-inflammatory-hyperpigmentation profile in darker skin.⁴
• A wavelength reserved for caution, used with caution. The higher-caution 532 nm interacts strongly with surface melanin, so the platform reserves it for warm pigment and treats it conservatively. Responsible design means knowing when not to reach for a wavelength.
• Provider-directed, endpoint-driven. Inclusion isn't a slider set to maximum. It's test spots, conservative endpoints in higher Fitzpatrick types, and the governing principle behind every protocol: the goal is the lowest effective setting that reaches the correct endpoint without tissue injury.

Engineered for Fitzpatrick I–VI with appropriate parameters by a trained provider. Designed with darker skin in mind — a defensible mechanism, in the hands of a professional you've trained.

One platform. Four treatment engines.

Where a single-purpose pigment laser treats tattoos and stops, the Pro 1 Pico keeps going — so every patient gets the right tool, not a compromise.

• Two wavelengths, one intelligent design. 1064 nm for deep and darker-skin work; 532 nm reserved, conservatively, for warm pigment. Optional 585 / 650 nm handpieces address selected resistant tattoo colours.
• Zero consumables. No per-pulse cartridge or disposable cost — the same expert treatment isn't rationed by the price of a cartridge.

For the clinic, breadth is inclusion made practical — pigment, PMU, melasma-supportive care, redness and veins, pores, acne scars, and year-round skin quality, for the full range of patients you serve, from one footprint. Serving darker-skin patients confidently isn't a niche add-on; it widens the top of the same funnel.

Where the Pro 1 Pico sits in the category

Providers who prioritize darker skin already know the leaders in this conversation — Aerolase® among them. We'll be straight about what they do well, then tell you where the Pro 1 Pico is built differently. Every competitor fact below is drawn from published materials, footnoted, and independently removable.

Aerolase — genuinely strong on skin of color. Each of the following is Aerolase's own published positioning:

• Aerolase describes its Neo Elite® as purpose-built to treat all Fitzpatrick skin types, including darker tones.^S1
• It publishes the platform as built on patented 650-microsecond 1064 nm Nd:YAG technology.^S2
• It describes a contactless handpiece requiring no cooling or cryogen.^S3
• It markets over 36 FDA-cleared indications across its devices.^S4

That is a real, well-executed darker-skin proposition — and it reflects the same wisdom we build on: 1064 nm is the melanin-sparing wavelength of choice as skin gets darker.

Where the Pro 1 Pico is built differently — on our verified strengths:

• Same 1064 nm philosophy, a different time domain. Aerolase's published pulse is 650 microseconds — a photothermal (heat-driven) delivery.^S2 The Pro 1 Pico operates in the true picosecond domain (500 ps) with PTP twin-pulse, adding a photoacoustic, mechanical pigment-fragmentation mechanism that a microsecond photothermal pulse does not — the same modality validated for melasma in darker skin above.¹³
• Multi-engine breadth. The Pro 1 Pico is a multi-regime platform — picosecond pigment (1064/532 nm), PulseStack™ 750 collagen banking, long-pulse 1064 nm vascular, and fractional LIOB remodeling — so one device anchors pigment, vascular, collagen, and remodeling menus.
• Zero per-pulse consumables, so inclusive, high-volume treatment isn't taxed by disposables.
• Manufacturer-direct and verifiable — Health Canada MDL 114765, FDA cleared, supplied worldwide through Laser Equipment Global.

Competitor specifications sourced from manufacturer-published materials; last verified 2026-07-06 (see Sources). We compare on published specifications only, and make no claims about any competitor's service, reliability, or business. When evaluating any platform, ask each vendor about long-term parts availability and service response commitments.

Documented, not hyped

• Health Canada licensed. Listed in Health Canada's MDALL under Medical Device Licence number 114765 (Class III), verified against MDALL on 2026-06-01.
• FDA 510(k) cleared (General & Plastic Surgery panel).
• Backed manufacturer-direct with onboarding, clinical training, and protocol guidance on every placement — including conservative, provider-directed protocols and test-spot discipline for pigment-prone and darker skin.
• No invented statistics. We don't publish clearance percentages or patient counts we can't source. What we publish about the Pro 1 Pico — the wavelengths, the PTP architecture, the melanin-sparing mechanism, the regulatory status — is documented.

When we say the platform is engineered for Fitzpatrick I–VI with appropriate parameters, that is a statement about wavelength science and provider-directed technique — not a guarantee of outcome. "Every skin tone" is a standard of care, not a marketing line.