Efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasonography for noninvasive body sculpting in Chinese patients

Abstract

Background and objectives: High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a noninvasive technology for body contouring. HIFU is focused within the subcutaneous adipose tissue, causing coagulative necrosis and cell death. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a HIFU device for sculpting of the abdomen.

Materials and methods: The system has a set focal depth of 1.3 cm. Twelve subjects with adipose thickness no less than 2.5 cm who met the screening criteria were recruited. Each subject received one treatment to the abdomen. The total fluence used per site was 150-165 J/cm(2) with a mean of 161 J/cm(2) . The waist circumference at iliac crest and the point of maximum circumference were recorded at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks post-treatment, as well as their weight and BMI. Subjects' rating on comfort level and satisfaction were collected via questionnaires at every follow-up. Standardized photographs were also taken with the Canfield System® at each visit.

Results: Seven out of 12 subjects were satisfied with the outcome and 9 out of 12 would recommend this treatment to their friends and family. There was statistically significant improvement in the waist circumference measured at both the iliac crest (P-value 0.013, 0.002, 0.005) and maximum waistline (P-value 0.003, 0.034, 0.023) at 4, 8, 12 weeks post-treatment. Spearman's rho for correlation of energy level versus improvement showed that at 12 weeks post-treatment follow-up, the improvement significantly correlated with the total fluence per treatment (P-value 0.041). The higher the total fluence delivered, the larger the decrease in waist circumference.

Conclusions: High-intensity focused ultrasound effectively decreases waist circumference in Chinese. The higher the total fluence delivered, the larger the decrease in waist circumference was observed.

Keywords: Chinese; body sculpting; high-intensity focused ultrasound; non-invasive.