The expanding world of body shaping technologies

The expanding world of body shaping technologies

In a society where undertaking beautifying enhancements no more holds the stigma it once did, more folks are claiming their to a personalized aesthetic ideal. And as the marketplace for cosmetic methods grows exponentially, progressively advanced nonsurgical technology are providing safer remedies. While surgical liposuction is also growing in reputation, albeit more slowly, less invasive, energy-centered body shaping is definitely sharply increasing.

In the March 2019 preview of its 2018 annual statistics, the American Society of Plastic material Surgeons (ASPS) reported an increase in new trends in body shaping techniques recently, with a spike in noninvasive fat reduction. In 2017, the American Society for Aesthetic COSMETIC SURGERY(ASAPS) outlined non-surgical fat reduction, including procedures that utilize energy-based devices, up 24.7%.

Leading technologies

Prevalent energy-based body shaping technologies include radiofrequency (RF), laser and ultrasound, including high-intensity concentrated ultrasound (HIFU), in addition to cryolipolysis, electromagnetic energy, radial shockwave and more.

“Presently, cryolipolysis is king,” expressed Suzanne Kilmer, MD, a dermatologist and founder of the Laser and Skin Surgery Center of Northern California (Sacramento, Calif.), scientific professor at the University of California, Davis and previous president of the American Culture for Laser Medication and Surgery (ASLMS).

“Whilst RF is up-and-arriving, ultrasound energy and 1064 nm lasers are vying for popularity,” she continued. “Recently, we have seen high-strength focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) technology emerge as an excellent adjunctive treatment.”

Cryolipolysis, by virtue of Allergan’s CoolSculpting device, could very well be the most well-known fat burning and body shaping technology at this time. “The CoolSculpting method works well on many patients,” mentioned Michael Somenek, MD, a facial plastic surgeon in Washington, D.C. “Furthermore, some people tolerate the chilly, following the treatment there can be some massage, which may be quite painful, sometimes.”

To cope with pain linked to the massage, some practitioners possess incorporated Z Wave radial shock-wave technology from Zimmer MedizinSystems, (Irvine, Calif.), as an adjunct therapy. It works together with noninvasive lipolysis devices, enhancing the result and providing a more consistent outcome, as well as relieving associated discomfort. The company also marketplaces a cryolipolysis-centered body shaping gadget, ZLipo.

Because reported by Marc J. Salzman, MD, a cosmetic surgeon in Louisville, Ky., and assistant clinical professor of cosmetic surgery at the University of Louisville, “We combine cryolipolysis with acoustic soundwave therapy because it increases the amount of apoptosis that you could achieve. The audio waves split up the cells that are hanging on that could otherwise survive.”

Among other styles of energy-based modalities which have found favor in aesthetic practices, for Dr. Salzman, “the options with RF are very interesting. We have develop excellent means of using RF beneath the skin, and at this point we've injectable RF via microneedling. The look of how exactly to apply the RF is bound by the three keys of skin tightening. 1st, the temperature you need to reach, adopted by the time you need to be at that temperature to accomplish a therapeutic impact and the patient’s tolerance.”

A recently released exemplory case of an RF-based body shaping system, truSculpt® iD, from Cutera® (Brisbane, Calif.), offers unique handpiece and placement area versatility and customizable 15-minute protocols to treat the full stomach or multiple body areas at the same time. This powerful, non-invasive monopolar RF platform adapts to patients’ person requirements and features real-period temperature control for clinically proven results, safety and patient comfort and ease. 

Another new regular in RF-based contouring that offers effective, 15-minute treatments is InMode’s AccuTite device, which delivers precision heating system via the company’s proprietary radiofrequency assisted lipolysis (RFAL) technology, which uses thermal energy to market pores and skin tightening and remove unwanted weight, inducing collagen creation for firmer epidermis. AccuTite’s efficacy is certainly backed by several clinical studies and peer-reviewed publications.

RF-based aesthetic platforms offering multiple modalities have become in acceptance, aswell. For instance, the Thermi® type of products, from Thermi, a Celling Biosciences Organization (Dallas, Texas),  which include ThermiTight® for body shaping, are managed via the firm’s A RVATI™ program. This new technology regulates the emission of constant RF waves and features a sophisticated 50W capacity, and also intelligent software program with electrode acknowledgement, improved treatment velocity and advanced temperature-control technology.

noninvasive HIFEM® is new upon the aesthetic scene, though it is made in the urology and gynecology areas. As an electromagnetic field passes through your body, it intermingles with engine neurons, which in turn trigger supramaximal muscle contractions. The exposure of muscle tissue to these contractions prospects with their strengthening. This technology addresses fat to an degree, but mostly provokes muscle mass contractions that bring about muscle mass building and body sculpting results.

The first gadget of the type marketed to aesthetic practices, EMSCULPT®, from BTL  Aesthetics (Marlborough, Mass.), “Will not therefore much reduce fat since it helps sculpt the body from a muscle tissue standpoint,” stated Dr. Kilmer. “We've used it together with other gadgets, where HIFEM improved muscles toning and weight loss.”

In a far more traditional realm, laser-based lipolysis and particularly the 1064 nm wavelength has been proven to be effective in body contouring procedures, with many devices in the marketplace with the capacity of heating larger regions of subcutaneous tissue while yielding a smaller sized thermal influence on neighboring dermal tissue.

For example, TightSculpting®, from Fotona (Dallas, Texas), is a unique, dual-wave-length, non-invasive laser skin treatment for sculpting and tightening skin on all body areas. And, the SculpSure® laser,  from Cynosure/Hologic (Westford, Mass.), offers a distinctive applicator system that can focus on multiple body areas simultaneously, employing a 1060 nm wavelength to take care of fat cells and contour your body.

“For a select band of the patient population, there continues to be a place for laser beam lipolysis,” stated  Dr.  Salzman. “Sciton provides one known as ALLURA™ Body, and I’m doing increasingly more of that treatment since it causes noticeable tightening. The majority of laser-based lipolysis methods are minimally invasive with hardly any downtime.”

Ultrasound includes a place in the torso shaping realm as well, although modern aesthetic platforms that employ ultrasound have a tendency to combine it with RF-based technologies. A recently available example, Alma Beauty Reform, from Alma Lasers (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), combines both in a single system - an RF applicator for pores and skin tightening and an ultrasound applicator for fat reduction and body contouring. Both energies may also be found in generically top quality ultrasound cavitation devices, that have appeared mainly in medspas as second tier energy-based systems for body contouring techniques.

HIFU technology can be useful for body shaping procedures, as in Ultralipo, from Wontech Co., Ltd. (Daejeon, South Korea), in which concentrated ultrasound energy delivers high temperature from 60° C to 80° C to the prospective body area, destroying body fat cells without damaging the surface of the skin.

HIFU-centered devices are more often found in Asia, much less so in the U.S., opined Dr. Salzman. “It functions, but if you're creating enough heat to cause acute fat necrosis thermally, with some type of injury, it will hurt. Apoptosis, which is produced by enough warmth to cause cellular material to emit their intercellular body fat, is usually a safer strategy to use,” he said.

Combination techniques

Combining energy resources, such as hybrid systems that support both ultrasound and RF modalities, with adjunctive remedies like HIFEM, are today’s styles in body shaping methods.

“The target is to create an optimal result for the individual. Sometimes, that means performing a combination treatment of noninvasive fat burning and adding some device that may potentially improve complexion and tighten the skin,” Dr. Somenek described.

Furthermore, “section of the follow-up strategy with the patient specializes in their physical wellness, emphasizing a good diet program, exercise and an ongoing skincare regimen,” this individual added.

“We often do treatments in mixture,” Dr. Kilmer shared. We will apply one gadget in one area, another device in another region, and then make use of body creams to improve the efficacy of the effect. In body shaping, the lacking link is definitely that once we’ve sculpted after that how best to erase any cellulite? I don’t have any items in hand that execute a good job of this, although there are a few new approaches decreasing the pipeline.

”Personalized combination therapies already are de rigueur in Dr. Salzman’s clinic. “State the patient has some adiposity. We begins with an RF-based body sculpting treatment and which will slim them  out. They could want epidermis tightening or even more definition, or a bit more fat reduction. They are quite typical combinations using different devices.” 

Beyond technology & technique

No matter the power source or technique included, “Efficacy, simplicity, length of treatment time and individual comfort during treatment are important criteria for choosing an energy-based body shaping system,” noted Dr. Kilmer.

Amount of treatment always performs a job, Dr. Somenek agreed. “How lengthy is each treatment likely to take and just how many remedies does the patient need to be able to visit a result?” he asked.

“Having the ability to demonstrate results is just about the most significant thing, because in case you have a gadget that shows very moderate improvement then it isn't worth it if you ask me. I love a device that truly does  what the maker statements and demonstrates some improvement for the individual in an exceedingly  easy-to-use  way,” Dr. Somenek expressed.

“Individual comfort and tolerance of the task is also a high concern,” he continuing. “A device that's technician independent is quite attractive. You intend to be able to place the applicators on, start the machine and allow it act on the top of skin.”

Designing for future years

While these technologies and combination treatment techniques are the state-of-the-art, exactly what will the  uture hold for body shaping techniques? 

First, the technology must be perfected, Dr. Salzman mentioned. “You have to reach at least 55° C to incite neocollagenesis that will tighten your skin; 43° can not work.”

“And the partnership between period and temperature is logarithmic,” he explained. "You might need ten secs at 55° to get the equivalent quantity of tightening which may be one million seconds at 43°, or whatever that logarithmic relationship may be. “Hence, the need for multiple treatments with these outside-in RF products,” Dr. Salzman continued. “I understand people who are focusing on microwaves to deal with more than underarm sweating. You would like to target the fat and break it up sonically, in order that it doesn’t harm and doesn’t need numbing. This is the holy grail.”

DEKA Medical, Inc. (El.Sobre. Group, Firenze, Italy) supplies the Onda program that uses microwave-centered energy at 2.45 GHz, a frequency that heats deeper subcutaneous cells as opposed to the two outermost  layers of skin. Reportedly, this body contouring strategy has been discovered to work for abdominal circumference reduction.

For Dr. Somenek, long term devices need to be in a position to target fat more effectively. “Many of these non-invasive devices have restrictions. They are called noninvasive for grounds; namely, they don't deliver a medical result,” he said. “It is necessary to keep that at heart and end up being truthful about any of it. However, simultaneously I think that you will see an evolution in technologies where we can better target the body fat in a single or two remedies, but at a lot more than the 20% - 24% decrease per treatment we are viewing now with conventional devices.”

Both right now and in the foreseeable future, physicians have to maintain an authentic perspective about which patients are good body shaping candidates, stated Jason Emer, MD, a aesthetic surgeon and dermatologist in West Hollywood, Calif. “The individual has to be a good candidate once and for all results. 

“The end result is surgery may be the gold standard,” Dr. Emer continued. “non-surgical improvements will be the second-best choice. Anyone who involves you and says CoolSculpting didn’t work wasn’t an excellent candidate or didn’t obtain enough treatments. Generally, all of those gadgets and modalities could work; they have to be paired correct. Typically, they don’t function that well independently and have to be done in combination.”

A thorough overview of any long-term clinical research data connected with a device is crucial, aswell, Dr. Emer added.

“You need to be an astute physician and really press back on the manufacturers to ensure that they are being truthful about the outcomes,” he noted. “Also, speak to the some people that have carried out the research. Take time to do the study. There are a great number of energy-based systems available on the market, and because something can be new doesn’t imply it is better.