Method and apparatus for treatment of adipose tissue

An applicator for selective treatment of adipose tissue, the applicator comprising:

• a hollow dome comprising an interior chamber communicating through a port with a vacuum pump, the hollow dome configured to be applied to a skin to suction the skin and a subcutaneous tissue into the interior chamber, forming a protrusion protruding above a surrounding surface of the skin, the protrusion including an adipose tissue;
• one or more moderately focused ultrasound transducers located in the interior chamber of the hollow dome and generating ultrasound energy with focal volumes located in the protrusion of the adipose tissue, the one or more moderately focused ultrasound transducers, generating a power flow density of the ultrasound energy lower than a threshold for cavitation, however, sufficient to, generate pressure, gradients in the focal volumes in the adipose tissue being treated;
• a pair of radio frequency (RF) electrodes located at sides of the hollow dome and electrically isolated from the hollow dome and the one or more moderately focused ultrasound transducers, the RF electrodes driven by an RF driver operative to provide RF energy to the RF electrodes such that when both the RF electrodes are in contact with the skin the RF energy creates a high electric field in the adipose tissue, the RF electrodes comprising a thin film of electrically conducting material having negligible ultrasound attenuation applied to each face of the one or more moderately focused ultrasound transducers when both the RF electrodes touch the skin, and
• a cavitation sensor comprising a receiver tuned to half the moderately focused ultrasound transmitting frequency, the receiver configured to detect and control an appearance of cavitation in the tissue being treated and control a pressure level such that the pressure level does not cause cavitation in lipid, cytoplasm and intercellular fluids of the tissue being treated.