Individualized HIFU in women over 60: ultrasound assessment of layer-specific facial soft-tissue thickness changes
5 affiliations
- 1Medical Research Inc
- 2Pixelab plastic surgery clinic
- 3You and I Clinic
- 4Centre Médical Saint Jean
- 5Cabinet Médical
Abstract
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is widely used for facial rejuvenation, but standardized depth settings may not adequately account for age-related variation in facial soft tissue architecture in women aged 60 years and older. In this exploratory pilot study, 20 women underwent three HIFU sessions at 4-week intervals (Weeks 0, 4, and 8) and were evaluated at Week 16 (8 weeks after the final session). Participants received either a conventional protocol or an anatomy-guided protocol individualized using high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) measurements. HFUS assessed superficial fat thickness, deep fat thickness, and skin-to-SMAS distance at baseline and Week 16. Both protocols produced reductions in lower-face and submental tissue thicknesses. Across all HFUS endpoints, the anatomy-guided protocol showed larger mean reductions than the conventional protocol. In this exploratory analysis, nominal, unadjusted between-group differences were observed for lower-face skin-to-SMAS distance (difference in change, − 0.19 mm; 95% CI, − 0.38 to − 0.02; p = 0.035), submental superficial fat thickness (− 0.20 mm; 95% CI, − 0.39 to − 0.02; p = 0.032), and submental skin-to-SMAS distance (− 0.19 mm; 95% CI, − 0.38 to − 0.02; p = 0.035). These differences were small in absolute magnitude and should be interpreted cautiously in relation to ultrasound measurement precision. Investigator-rated improvement of “much improved” or better occurred in 40% of the conventional group and 60% of the anatomy-guided group. These preliminary findings suggest that anatomy-informed HIFU may be associated with small, layer-specific ultrasound-measured soft-tissue thickness changes in older women; however, the submillimeter magnitude of the differences, small sample size, parallel-group design, and short follow-up warrant cautious interpretation.
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BibTeX
@article{yi2026individualized,
title = {{Individualized HIFU in women over 60: ultrasound assessment of layer-specific facial soft-tissue thickness changes}},
author = {Kyu-Ho Yi and Yerin Park and Jong-Keun Song and Chang-Il Yoon and Kyu-Eun Lee and Hugues Cartier and Sebastien Garson and Jin-Hyun Kim},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-61092-7},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-61092-7},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Individualized HIFU in women over 60: ultrasound assessment of layer-specific facial soft-tissue thickness changes
AU - Kyu-Ho Yi
AU - Yerin Park
AU - Jong-Keun Song
AU - Chang-Il Yoon
AU - Kyu-Eun Lee
AU - Hugues Cartier
AU - Sebastien Garson
AU - Jin-Hyun Kim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-61092-7
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-61092-7
AB - High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is widely used for facial rejuvenation, but standardized depth settings may not adequately account for age-related variation in facial soft tissue architecture in women aged 60 years and older. In this exploratory pilot study, 20 women underwent three HIFU sessions at 4-week intervals (Weeks 0, 4, and 8) and were evaluated at Week 16 (8 weeks after the final session). Participants received either a conventional protocol or an anatomy-guided protocol individualized using high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) measurements. HFUS assessed superficial fat thickness, deep fat thickness, and skin-to-SMAS distance at baseline and Week 16. Both protocols produced reductions in lower-face and submental tissue thicknesses. Across all HFUS endpoints, the anatomy-guided protocol showed larger mean reductions than the conventional protocol. In this exploratory analysis, nominal, unadjusted between-group differences were observed for lower-face skin-to-SMAS distance (difference in change, − 0.19 mm; 95% CI, − 0.38 to − 0.02; p = 0.035), submental superficial fat thickness (− 0.20 mm; 95% CI, − 0.39 to − 0.02; p = 0.032), and submental skin-to-SMAS distance (− 0.19 mm; 95% CI, − 0.38 to − 0.02; p = 0.035). These differences were small in absolute magnitude and should be interpreted cautiously in relation to ultrasound measurement precision. Investigator-rated improvement of “much improved” or better occurred in 40% of the conventional group and 60% of the anatomy-guided group. These preliminary findings suggest that anatomy-informed HIFU may be associated with small, layer-specific ultrasound-measured soft-tissue thickness changes in older women; however, the submillimeter magnitude of the differences, small sample size, parallel-group design, and short follow-up warrant cautious interpretation.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -