Granted Patent B2

US 12,708,426 · App. 18/650,342 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Inventors: John Andres (Chatham, MA); Shawn D Roman (Safety Harbor, FL)

Assignee: Apyx Medical Corporation

A61B18/1206A61B18/042A61B18/14A61B2018/00178A61B2018/00577A61B2018/00589A61B2018/00601A61B2018/00702A61B2018/1253A61B2018/126

Abstract

Claims (35)

1 . A surgical method comprising:

creating an entry incision through a patient's skin;

aspirating fat from a subcutaneous tissue plane beneath the patients skin via the entry incision, the subcutaneous tissue plane including individual bands of a fibroseptal network;

applying helium-based plasma in the subcutaneous tissue plane, the helium-based plasma coagulates the individual bands and reduce laxity in the patient's skin, the helium-based plasma finds untreated bands of the individual bands that represents the path of least resistance for flow of RF energy in a plasma beam, the path of least resistance being a band having lower impedance relative to an adjacent band; and

drawing the helium-based plasma through the subcutaneous tissue plane such that the path of least resistance constantly changes, in response to increasing tissue impedance of the treated individual bands, and the helium-based plasma alternates to at least one other band of the individual bands to effect 360 degree tissue treatment,

wherein a current used to generate the helium-based plasma is selected such that, as impedance of the treated individual bands increases, the helium-based plasma alternates to an untreated individual band to limit heating of the treated bands.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying the helium-based plasma includes:

flowing helium over an energized electrode to ionize a portion of the flowing helium to generate plasma for coagulating the tissue, wherein applying the helium-based plasma produces rapid tissue heating of the individual bands sufficient to cause collagen contraction followed by immediate cooling to minimize unintended thermal injury to adjacent tissue.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein less than 0.1% of the flowing helium is ionized to create the plasma and greater than about 99.9% of the flowing helium remains un-ionized, wherein the flow of un-ionized helium draws heat away from the coagulated tissue.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the helium-based plasma is applied in a wanding motion to optimize distribution of the plasma.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the helium-based plasma is applied at a constant power output level for a range of tissue impedances.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the helium-based plasma is applied at a power output level of about 40 watts for tissue impedances on a range of about 125 ohms to at least about 5000 ohms.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the aspirating fat includes at least one of an ultrasound-assisted liposuction technique, a laser assisted liposuction technique, and/or a power assisted liposuction technique.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising liquifying the fat in the subcutaneous tissue plane before aspirating.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the liquifying the fat includes:

injecting the subcutaneous tissue plane with photo-absorbing nanoparticles; and

exciting the photo-absorbing nanoparticles with light of a predetermined wavelength.

10 . A surgical method further comprising:

creating an entry incision through a patient's skin;

disposing a balloon device through the entry incision, the balloon device is disposed in a subcutaneous layer by a plasma generator;

inflating the balloon to dissect tissue to create the subcutaneous tissue plane;

aspirating fat via the entry incision; and

applying helium-based plasma in the subcutaneous tissue plane to coagulate tissue and reduce laxity in the patient's skin.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the balloon device is disposed in a subcutaneous layer by a tunneling member.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the balloon is inflated with helium supplied by the plasma generator.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising deflating the balloon device and removing the balloon device before the applying of the helium-based plasma.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the balloon device remains inflated during the applying of the helium-based plasma to promote flow of the plasma to extremities of the subcutaneous tissue plane.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the balloon device is configured to correspond to an area of skin of a patient to be tightened.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the balloon device is configured to correspond to at least one of a patient's buttocks, abdomen, arms, legs, neck, forehead and/or chin.

17 . A surgical method comprising:

creating an entry incision through a patient's skin;

disposing a balloon device through the entry incision;

inflating the balloon to dissect tissue to create a subcutaneous tissue plane, aspirating fat via the entry incision; and

applying helium-based plasma in the subcutaneous tissue plane to coagulate tissue and reduce laxity in the patient's skin,

wherein the balloon device remains inflated during the applying of the helium-based plasma to promote flow of the plasma to extremities of the subcutaneous tissue plane.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (298)