A system for providing an ultrasonic skin-tightening treatment is disclosed. The system comprises a) a flexible sleeve wrapped around a treatment volume of a patient; b) one or more treatment panels, arranged on an inside wall of the sleeve, provide ultrasound energy and cooling to the treatment volume; and c) a control module controls ultrasonic and cooling parameters independently for each treatment panel. The system enables hands-free treatment over an entire treatment volume, with localized variations of the parameters, according to treatment requirements, under each treatment panel. The ultrasound and cooling parameters may be varied to select treatment of a particular depth below the skin surface.

Methods, devices, and systems employ cryolysis of oropharyngeal adipose tissues to selectively remove fat cells from the tissues causing obstructive sleep apnea. In various embodiments, a chilled liquid—e.g., a liquid or air—is applied to the target tissue at a temperature and for a duration sufficient to cause cryolysis.

A medical device includes a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array configured to emit ultrasound to target tissue, and at least one thermoelectric cooler mechanically coupled with the CMUT array and configured to cool non-target tissue heated by the ultrasound. The medical device may be implemented in a catheter together with a solid thermal conductor coupled to the thermoelectric cooler and extending along the catheter, to conduct heat away from the thermoelectric cooler. A catheter or catheter sleeve includes a tubular wall for insertion into a body channel, and at least one thermoelectric cooler coupled to the tubular wall for cooling the body channel wall. A catheter sleeve includes tubular casing for insertion into a body channel and capable of encasing a catheter, and at least one sensor coupled to the tubular casing for sensing one or more properties of the body channel wall, such as temperature and pressure.

A system for delivery of ultrasonic waves to a tissue volume, including:

an ultrasound applicator shaped and sized to be at least partially inserted into a vagina, including:

a body with a non-planar surface, wherein said body is shaped and sized to be at least partly introduced into a vagina;

a plurality of ultrasound transducers distributed on the non-planar surface of the ultrasound applicator body, wherein at least some of the plurality of ultrasound transducers are configured to contact a surface of a wall of the vagina during the generation of ultrasonic waves; at least one cooler configured to apply cooling to prevent overheating of the vagina wall surface being contacted by the transducers;

a control unit, comprising:

a control circuitry electrically connected to the ultrasonic transducers, wherein the control circuitry signals at least some of the ultrasound transducers to generate ultrasonic waves to heat the tissue volume.

A method of treating abnormal tissue within a patient includes positioning a delivery cannula within the patient, the delivery cannula having a first electrode disposed on its distal end; introducing an ablation probe through the cannula and out an open distal end thereof, so that a second ablation electrode carried on the ablation probe contacts abnormal tissue within the patient; conveying ablation energy between the first and second ablation electrodes to ablate the abnormal tissue; and introducing a separate medical element, whether a device or a therapeutic agent, through the cannula before or after the ablation process.

A method of treating a skin tissue area (3) having a skin surface (5) is provided. The method comprises the steps of: deforming the skin tissue area into a deformed shape comprising a plurality of folds (17) in the skin tissue area; arranging radiofrequency electrodes (13) in contact with the skin surface on opposite sides of the deformed skin tissue area; and, while maintaining the skin tissue area in said deformed shape, providing a spatially continuous radiofrequency energy flow between the radiofrequency electrodes on opposite sides of the deformed skin tissue area through the deformed skin tissue area, thereby heating at least a portion (19) of the deformed skin tissue area; and releasing the skin tissue area from said deformed shape, thereby deforming said heated portion (19) into a wave-shaped zone of heated skin tissue having a depth relative to the skin surface that varies between a minimum and a maximum value in a direction between said opposite sides. Accordingly, an apparatus for treating a skin tissue area (3) is provided.

A catheter has a cooling distal section for freezing tissue to sub-zero temperatures with one or more miniature reverse thermoelectric or Peltier elements, also referred to herein as micro-Peltier cooling (MPC) units or electrodes. The MPC units may be on outer surface of an inflatable or balloon member or a tip electrode shell wall that has a fluid-containing interior cavity acting as a heat sink. Each MPC unit has a hot junction and a cold junction whose temperatures are regulated by the heat sink, and a voltage/current applied to the MPC units. A temperature differential of about 70 degrees Celsius may be achieved between the hot and cold junctions for extreme cooling, especially where the MPC units include semiconductor materials with high Peltier co-efficients. An outer coating of thermally-conductive but electrically-insulative material seals the MPC units to prevent unintended current paths through the MPC units.

Systems for treating a subject's tissue can include a thermally conductive cup with vacuum features configured to facilitate removal of air located between the cup and the subject's skin. The vacuum features can extend along cup to provide airflow paths to a vacuum port. The applicator can cool and/or heat the retained tissue to affect targeted tissue. After the treat period, the vacuum can be reduced or stop and the applicator can be removed from the subject.

A beauty device (1, 2, 3) includes rollers (220, 226-1, 226-2), at least one part of which is in contact with skin and a center portion and an end portion of which have different diameters, an irradiation unit (212) that irradiates the skin with light, and a control unit (130, 315, 135, 316) that controls the irradiation unit based on the rotation of the rollers.

In combined methods for treating a patient using time-varying magnetic field, treatment methods combine various approaches for aesthetic treatment. A magnetic field generating device is placed proximate to a body region of the patient. The magnetic field generating device generates a time-varying magnetic field with a magnetic flux density in a range of 0.5 to 7 Tesla. The time-varying magnetic field is applied to the body region of the patient in order to cause a contraction of a muscle within the body region. A second therapy may be used by applying one or more of optical waves, radio frequency waves, mechanical waves, negative or positive pressure or heat to the body region of the patient.