Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology (Mar 2022)
Quantified Facial Rejuvenation Utilizing High Intense Focus Ultrasound with Multiple Penetrative Depths
Abstract
Man-Lok Lio,1 Chang-Cheng Chang,2 Andy Deng-Chi Chuang,3 Li-Cheng Tsai,4 Chien-Chou Chen5– 8 1Department of General Surgery, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan; 2Division of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, Department of Surgery, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 3Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Keelung, Keelung, Taiwan; 4Department of Dermatology, China Medical College Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 5Department of dermatology, Joe Chen Beauty Skin Clinic, Taichung City, Taiwan; 6Department of Cosmeceutics and Graduate Institute of Cosmeceutics, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 7School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 8Institute of Imaging and Biomedical Photonics, National Yang MingCorrespondence: Chang-Cheng Chang, Email [email protected]: Multiple penetration depths of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment for facial rejuvenation have not been quantified.Methods: We enrolled 12 participants (n=24) to undergo one session of HIFU rejuvenation between January 1, 2019, and January 10, 2020. We used a 2-, 4.5-, and 6-mm focal depth transducer on the upper and middle face. We evaluated efficacy on days 60 and 90 by using our specific assessment system.Results: The average eyebrow peak and pupil–eyebrow peak angles significantly increased by 2° (p < 0.0005) and decreased by 1° (p < 0.0001), respectively, at day 90. The shortened eyebrow–iris length indicated that the forehead tissues had lifted and moved medially to the central face. Supraorbital tissues were also vertically elevated, marked by the eyebrow–orbital (p = 0.0016) and vertical palpebral fissure lengths (p = 0.0052), which both exhibited a 0.8-cm elevation. For the midface, the increased canthus–oral–nasal angle (p = 0.5881) and decreased tragus–oral length (p = 0.5881) indicated that laxity had been corrected through lifted oral commissure, though the data were not statistically significant. No serious side effects were observed.Conclusion: HIFU treatment with multiple depths quantitatively improved both upper-facial rejuvenation and midface rejuvenation after a single session.Keywords: HIFU, high-intensity focused ultrasound, facial aging, facial periorbital rejuvenation, midface rejuvenation
