Company develops fat-busting ultrasound

BOTHELL, Wash. — People tired of being chubby but with no interest in dieting, exercising or liposuction could soon have a new, pain-free option: fat-busting ultrasound.

Some of Silicon Valley’s savviest investors in medical devices have thrown $27 million at a company working to develop the technology in this northeast Seattle suburb.

LipoSonix CEO Jens Quistgaard, an electrical engineer and ultarsound expert recruited by venture capitalists two years ago, is working on the SonoSculpt device.The idea is to use high-intensity ultrasound waves, beamed about an inch under the skin, to break up fatty tissue without pain, scars, anesthesia or a long recovery time.

Ultrasound, long used as a diagnostic tool, can break up kidney stones and been used for years as a tool in liposuction, the surgical siphoning of fat.

Engineering the frequency and energy of an ultrasound beam to disrupt fat cells from outside, without damaging the skin or other tissues, presents an “incredible technical challenge,” Quistgaard said.

In testing on 30 people in Mexico, the treatment did not burn or seriously irritate the skin, and it reduced fat on the abdomen without causing serious complications by sending too much loose fat into the bloodstream, the company said.

The tests, which have not yet been published in medical literature, consisted of a few one-hour treatments, then three months of observation, Quistgaard said.

It’s not clear exactly where the fat goes after ultrasound jolts it loose. LipoSonix and its medical advisers believe the body’s immune system responds to the disrupted site, digests some fat cells and deposits others into the bloodstream. Other fat cells may migrate to other body parts, while others are excreted.

Quistgaard said he’s fine-tuning the technology so the procedure takes less than an hour. When that is achieved, the company plans to launch a clinical trial in the United States, using a group of several hundred test patients.