Patent ID: 8690863

Claim:
A method for eliminating dermal content through the skin, the method comprising: exposing a region of the skin to laser radiation to create a plurality of treatment zones, wherein the treatment leaves stratum corneum within each treatment zone substantially intact and creates a vacuole below the stratum corneum within each treatment zone; and encompassing the dermal content in the vacuole of each treatment zone, wherein the dermal content is exfoliated through the skin, the laser radiation has a wavelength between 1200 nm to 2000 nm, the laser radiation has a pulse energy of 1 mJ to 50 mJ per treatment zone, the laser radiation has a spot size of 10 μm to 400 μm, each vacuole has a depth of 50 μm to 1000 μm, and the treatment zones have a fill factor of between 1% and 90% of a total treatment surface area.