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Characterization of microthermal zones induced by fractional radiofrequency using reflectance confocal microscopy: A preliminary study
Author(s) -
Shin Min Kyung,
Park Jong Min,
Lim Hee Kyeong,
Choi Jeong Hwee,
Baek Ji Hwoon,
Kim Han Jo,
Koh Jae Sook,
Lee MuHyoung
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.22175
Subject(s) - in vivo , ablation , confocal microscopy , confocal , microscopy , irradiation , reflectivity , biomedical engineering , ablative case , materials science , radio frequency , medicine , nuclear medicine , pathology , optics , radiology , radiation therapy , biology , telecommunications , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , computer science , nuclear physics
Background The microthermal zone (MTZ) produced by fractional device have been mostly evaluated through histopathologic analysis. Study of ablative type MTZ created by fractional device and skin thermal interaction using in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) has been rarely reported. Objectives We evaluated the in vivo human RCM skin images of ablated fractional radiofrequency (RF) treatment to demonstrate the thermal interaction between RF and skin tissue. Subjects and Method Three healthy male subjects underwent a single irradiation of fractional RF on the upper back area. The diameter, area, and depth of the MTZ was measured using RCM. Three female domestic swine were used for comparative histopathological study. Results After RF treatment, crusted holes surrounding pale edematous rings were visible in RCM images. The empty spaces correlated to the location of ablative channels, and the presence of thermal modification zones corresponded to areas with a whitish ring showing high reflectance. Ablation depth increased in proportion to the energy of fractional RF. However, the diameter of the thermal modified zone was relatively constant regardless of RF energy. Conclusions RCM successfully identified in vivo acute thermal changes after fractional RF. The results obtained in this study provide a clearer picture of tissue–thermal interactions in the skin. Lasers Surg. Med. 45:503–508, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.