A puncture device includes a puncture needle that punctures a puncture site of the living body and supplies thermal energy, a sensor needle having a puncture site temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the puncture site, a holder that holds the puncture needle and the sensor needle, a cartridge that receives the puncture needle, the sensor needle, and the holder, a main body to which the cartridge is attachable, a contacting unit provided with through holes penetrating the front and back surfaces thereof and provided on the surface side thereof with a contacting surface with the surface of the puncture site, and a drive unit that moves the holder such that the puncture needle and the sensor needle are projected and retracted from the contacting surface via the through holes.

The illustrated embodiments include an apparatus to reduce or eliminate full thickness injury in tissue and to deform tissue which includes a probe or mechanism for deforming tissue, and a subsystem for selectively cooling and/or heating tissue while deformation is of the tissue is being performed. The illustrated embodiments of the invention also extend to a method to reduce or eliminate full thickness injury in tissue and to deform tissue including the steps of deforming tissue, and selectively cooling and/or heating tissue while deformation of the tissue is being performed.

A cooling device for removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject having skin is provided. The cooling device includes a plurality of cooling elements movable relative to each other to conform to the contour's of the subject's skin. The cooling elements have a plurality of controllable thermoelectric coolers. The cooling elements can be controlled to provide a time-varying cooling profile in a predetermined sequence, can be controlled to provide a spatial cooling profile in a selected pattern, or can be adjusted to maintain constant process parameters, or can be controlled to provide a combination thereof.

Methods are provided herein for affecting a region of a subject's body, comprising exposing the region to a cooling element under conditions effective to cool subcutaneous adipose tissue in said region; and increasing the blood flow rate to the cooled tissue by exposing the tissue to an energy source. Methods are also provided for treating subcutaneous adipose tissue in a region of a subject's body, comprising exposing said region to a cooling element under conditions effective to cool said tissue; and exposing the tissue to an energy source to increase the blood flow rate to the cooled tissue, thereby stimulating reperfusion in, and/or causing an ischemia-reperfusion injury to, the cooled tissue.

A method and system are disclosed for opening a workspace inside a lumen of a living creature are disclosed. Anchors may be affixed to opposite ends of the workspace. An extender may be distance anchors apart while they are affixed to the walls of the workspace. Distancing the anchors may unfold and/or stretch the lumen in the region of the workspace.

Described embodiments include an apparatus that includes at least one electrically-conducting plate, configured for placement on a body of a subject, and one or more tubes coupled to a surface of the electrically-conducting plate, the tubes being configured to carry a fluid over the electrically-conducting plate while the electrically-conducting plate is on the body of the subject and electric current passes through the electrically-conducting plate. Other embodiments are also described.

A diode laser system having high-power diode(s) said high-power diode(s) producing laser outputs in a range of 0.1 to 25 Watts of power using optimum wavelengths via a single optical delivery fiber.

A handpiece for laser treatment of a target surface on a patient, such as a skin surface, mitigates the effects of backscattered radiation at high optical power levels that can heat the handpiece to dangerous levels, as well as exposing practitioners and patients to the backscattered light and/or the handpiece structures heated thereby. A standoff affixed to the handpiece is configured to guide the handpiece position with respect to the target surface during use, such that the angle of incidence of treatment light is held near a predetermined angle that is not perpendicular to the target surface. This angle decreases the fraction of treatment light scattered directly back toward the handpiece, and the standoff may additionally be used to set a preferred distance to the target surface. Systems for laser treatment using a handpiece having these features, and methods for laser treatment using the handpiece are also provided.

A vapor delivery needle is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the energy delivery probe is that it can apply condensable vapor energy to tissue, such as a prostrate, to shrink, damage, or denature tissues of the prostate. Methods associated with use of the energy delivery probe are also covered.

A device for exchanging heat with a subject having skin is provided. The device includes a heat exchanging member having a heat transfer surface configured to form a heat conducting interface with the subject's skin. The device further includes a substantially flexible sensing device disposed in the interface between the heat exchanging member and the subject's skin. The sensing device is configured to measure a parameter of the interface without substantially impeding heat transfer between the heat exchanging member and the subject's skin.