The best way to remove a tattoo is with quality-switched, or Q-switched, lasers, which have become widely used in the last decade. The beam of light searches for contrast between skin tone and ink and pulses intensely on the skin to break the ink down into particles small enough for the body to absorb.
Tattoo removal has been performed with various tools since the start of tattooing. While tattoos were once considered permanent, it is now possible to remove them with treatments, fully or partially. The "standard modality for tattoo removal" is the non-invasive removal of tattoo pigments using Q-switched lasers.