Ultrasonic liposculpturing: Extrapolations from the analysis of in vivo sonicated adipose tissue

The ultrasonic liposculpturing technique is currently gaining increasing popularity. Although ultrasound is an accepted part of our diagnostic medical practice, the way in which it interacts with solid living tissue is still a complex and unsolved biophysical problem. Very few studies, if any, have followed the effects of diffusion of this intriguing technique on the fields of biosafety and interaction mechanisms. We evaluate the results of our standard ultrasound liposculpturing technique in order to recognize the physical mechanism - thermal, cavitational, or ''direct'' - involved in the damaging process. Our microscopic analysis of sonicated adipose tissue confirms that ultrasound is highly selective in its action, producing disruption of macromolecules and cellular structures probably through microstreaming tissue movement. The results of ultrasonic liposculpturing and standard suction lipoplasty are compared. The main advantages of this new technique are the possibility of a very selective destruction of adipose tissue and the prospective solution to such delicate problems as the irregularity of cellulite.