Treatment of sub-dermal regions for cosmetic effects

A method of treating the skin, comprising:

• emitting imaging acoustic waves from an ultrasound imaging element housed within an ultrasound probe, through a skin surface to image a region of interest under said skin surface;
• emitting ultrasound energy from a therapy element housed within the ultrasound probe to said region of interest at a depth under said skin surface in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 5 mm, the region of interest comprising a portion of at least one of muscular fascia and SMAS tissue, wherein said emitting ultrasound energy ablates a portion of said region of interest under said skin surface to facilitate a tightening of the skin surface;
• and
• moving a motion mechanism operably connected to the therapy element within the ultrasound probe for controllably creating a plurality of thermal lesions along a line at depth in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 5 mm under said skin surface,
• wherein the motion mechanism comprises at least one of the group consisting of an accelerometer, encoder and a position/orientation device;
• wherein the motion mechanism is controlled by a control system in communication with the ultrasound probe.

A method for treating the skin, comprising:

• targeting imaging acoustic waves from an ultrasound imaging element through a skin surface to image a treatment region comprising a portion of at least one of SMAS tissue and muscular fascia,
• focusing therapeutic ultrasound energy from a therapy element to said treatment region comprising said portion of at least one of SMAS tissue and muscular fascia at a fixed depth in the range of up to about 9 mm below said skin surface,
• wherein said therapeutic ultrasound energy ablates a portion of said treatment region to facilitate tissue tightening at the treatment region,
• wherein the imaging element and the therapy element are housed within an ultrasound probe;
• and
• moving a motion mechanism operably connected to the therapy element for controllably creating a plurality of thermal lesions along a line at said fixed depth at the treatment region,
• wherein the motion mechanism is controlled by a control system in communication with the ultrasound probe, wherein said control system controls at least one of a spatial parameter and a temporal parameter.