Approximately 80 percent of the world's population is pigmented; even in the United States, current projections indicate that by mid-century the majority of the population will be non-Caucasian. US dermatologists are already seeing a significant shift in the makeup of their client population.

The concept of selective photothermolysis revolutionized cutaneous therapy and continues to be the basis of low-risk laser treatment of photoaged skin, benign pigmented lesions and tattoos, unwanted hair, and cutaneous vascular lesions.