Slender Medical Ltd.

 Article preview from Start Up- December 1, 2010

For nonsurgical body contouring,Slender Medical Ltd. has developed a device that uses high intensity-focused ultrasound to effectively treat local anatomical areas like the chin and arms, so it is being positioned to either augment liposuction or as stand-alone therapy. Because of a dual-head applicator comprising two ultrasonic transducers, the Slender system is able to both transmit ultrasonic waves and receive the ultrasonic signal. As a result, it can monitor temperature at the same time it extracts fat tissue, leading to a safer outcome for the patient.

Slender Medical Ltd.

 Article preview from Start Up- December 1, 2010

Although liposuction is the second most popular aesthetic surgical procedure (after breast augmentation) in the US, patients would much rather schedule noninvasive aesthetic procedures because of cost, convenience and limited/no downtime, as witnessed by the far more popular Botox/ Dysport products, hyaluronic acid injections and laser hair removal.

For nonsurgical body contouring, Israeli-based Slender Medical Ltd. has developed a device that uses high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to effectively treat local anatomical areas like the chin and arms, so it is being positioned to either augment liposuction or as stand-alone therapy. "We are not targeting to remove large amounts of fat," says CEO Liat Tsoref. "Still, there is a big demand for these small localized areas."

Tsoref says smaller areas of the body can't be treated with other ultrasound devices because of the large size of their applicators and the way they transmit the ultrasonic waves (vertically to the skin as opposed to horizontally), hence, potentially heating bones or internal organs. Additionally, traditional ultrasound simply delivers sound waves at a fixed level or sometimes at a level predicated on patient pain. "But you don't really know the effect of the energy that is delivered," Tsoref notes. In contrast, the Slender system has the ability to continuously monitor the temperature elevation during treatment. "This enhances both the safety and efficacy of treatment," states Tsoref, who earned a doctorate in physics. The device is also able to identify specific tissue type. "We can recognize the exact fat tissue to be treated, while avoiding treating or destroying adjacent tissue such as blood vessels and nerves," she says.

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