Supramaximal muscle contractions induced by a high‐intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) device (EmSculpt, BTL Aesthetics) reduced subject’s visceral adipose tissue (VAT) by more than 14%, according to the results of a study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (March 2021).
David E. Kent, MD, and Brian M. Kinney, MD, FACS, MSME, performed computed tomography (CT) scans of 22 subjects (47.3 ± 8.4 years, BMI of 23.5 ± 3.5 kg/m2) who received eight HIFEM treatments of the abdomen (two to three days apart) at baseline and one month after the last treatment. Transverse slices at umbilical, infraumbilical and supraumbilical levels were used to determine the cross‐sectional area (CSA) of VAT through a semi‐automated segmentation method.
Analysis of the CSA revealed a significant and uniform reduction of the abdominal VAT area by 14.3% (from 110.6 ± 69.0 cm2 to 93.9 ± 54.6 cm2.) The researchers noted that, in general, a higher relative improvement was seen infraumbilically (17.1%), followed by supraumbilical (15.5%) and umbilical (10.7%) levels, and the reduction of VAT was strongly correlated to the reduction of subcutaneous fat in subjects.
The average baseline BMI remained unchanged (23.5 ± 3.5 kg/m2 to 23.4 ± 3.4 kg/m2) at follow‐up. However, waist circumference decreased on average by 3.9 ± 3.1 cm from 81.1 cm at baseline to 77.2 cm after the last treatment.
