Non-invasive ultrasonic body contouring

A method for selectively lysing adipose tissue, the method comprising:

• generating a time-varying electrical signal having a series of relatively high amplitude portions separated in time by a series of relatively low amplitude portions;
• converting the electrical signal to a corresponding ultrasonic signal;
• and
• directing the ultrasonic signal towards a target volume in a region of a body containing adipose and non-adipose tissue, thereby inducing selective cavitation in the adipose tissue while generally not lysing the non-adipose tissue in the target volume.

An automatically-positionable adipose tissue lysis apparatus, comprising:

• an ultrasonic transducer secured to a three-dimensional positioning assembly, said ultrasonic transducer being configured to direct ultrasonic energy at a target volume in a region of a body containing adipose and non-adipose tissue, so as to selectively generally lyse the adipose tissue and generally not lyse the non-adipose tissue;
• a lipolysis control computer having a video camera connected thereto, said video camera being configured to externally image a portion of the body, and said lipolysis control computer being configured to detect indications on the imaged portion of the body;
• and
• a positioning control unit configured to control said three-dimensional positioning assembly so as to automatically position said ultrasonic transducer based on the detected indications.