referring to fig1 , the anatomy and physiology of a hair follicle will be described . the hair follicle passes through a growth cycle beginning with an active phase ( anagen ), a transformation phase ( catagen ), and a resting phase ( telogen ). during anagen , the hair actively grows from a matrix of cells in the base of the follicle f called the bulb b . in the center of the bulb is the dermal papilla , which provides blood to the matrix cells . during catagen , the matrix cells become inactive and atrophy , causing the root of the hair to detach from the matrix cells and the dermal papilla . during the telogen phase , the hair is dead and tends to fall out . before a new hair can grow , new matrix cells must begin to form around the dermal papilla , and the follicle must reattach to those new matrix cells . once this transformation is complete , the follicle f has completed its cycle and is reformed into the anagen phase . thus , during the anagen and catagen phases , the growth sources are found in the bulb of the follicle . during the telogen phase , in contrast , there is no active growth , and there is no follicle bulb . the cells that are responsible for future growth are located around the dermal papilla . as used herein and in the claims , the phrase “ hair follicle ” will be intended to include both the active hair follicle present in the anagen and catagen phases . for simplicity , however , the phrase will also be intended to cover the site of the future hair follicle in the region of the dermal papilla during the telogen phase of hair growth . the methods of the present invention for applying high intensity acoustic energy to the region of the hair follicle work both with the actual follicles and with the matrix cells and the dermal papilla which would , if not ablated , result in subsequent re - growth of the follicle and related hair . referring to fig2 , the present invention relies on the transcutaneous focusing of high intensity acoustic energy , typically ultrasonic energy , to the follicle f of the hair h . by “ transcutaneous focusing ,” it is meant that a transducer 10 or other suitable source of high intensity acoustic energy is located at or near the surface of the patient &# 39 ; s skin s . as illustrated in fig2 , the transducer 10 is placed over a layer of acoustic coupling medium , such as an acoustic gel 12 , and the transducer surface 14 is adapted to focus the high intensity acoustic energy at a depth and location 20 which is located at the follicle f . the focusing of the acoustic ablative energy will typically create a region of heating , shown by a broken line 22 , which encompasses the follicle as well as the associated dermal papilla and matrix cells . the width and depth of focus of energy has been described above . the high intensity energy will be applied for a time sufficient to raise the temperature about the follicle sufficiently high to ablate the follicle and / or other cells responsible for hair growth in that region . while it would be possible to manually locate a transducer 10 at regions more or less above individual hair follicles in order to ablate individual hair growth , such manual methods would be extremely tedious and time - consuming ( although not necessarily more difficult and time - consuming than those of the prior art ). in order to increase the effectiveness of the methods of the present invention and reduce the time required to perform them , systems according to the present invention will preferably provide for both automated imaging of the target hair follicles as well as positioning of the ablative transducers in order to deliver energy to said hair follicles . for example , as shown in fig3 , ultrasonic scanning and imaging of a patient &# 39 ; s skin may reveal the presence of individual hair follicles f beneath the patient &# 39 ; s skin . note that the image of the individual hairs and hair follicles will appear generally as spots of various sizes , depending on the width of the acoustic beam at the depth of the scan . by overlaying different depth data on the same image , encoded by color or other distinguishable feature , it is possible to visualize the range of depths for each hair , thus determining the maximum depth of each follicle . the use of the combined positional and depth information for the individual hair follicles will be relied on by the methods and systems of the present invention for selectively applying and delivering the high intensity acoustic energy to the hair follicles , as described in more detail below . a system 100 useful for both for imaging and delivering high intensity acoustic energy to hair follicles according to the methods of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 - 6 . the systems will conveniently comprise a platform or handpiece 102 including a head 104 which is adapted to be placed against a region of the patient &# 39 ; s skin which is to be treated . typically , the head 104 includes a transducer 106 which is mounted in a x -/ y - drive system , as illustrated in fig5 . the transducer will thus be positionable over a coupling medium 110 which is formed in a lower window 112 of the device housing . preferably , an adhesive , abrasive , or other adhering region 114 is formed about the coupling medium 110 to facilitate placement and immobilization of the scan head 104 on the skin . the coupling material can be a liquid encapsulated by a membrane that contacts the tissue . alternatively , it may be a gel of semi - rigid nature that contacts the tissue either directly or through a membrane . the coupling material should have an acoustic impedance similar to that of tissue ( 1 . 5 mrayls ) and a sound velocity similar to tissue ( 1540 m / s ). the scan head 104 is able to move the transducer 106 over a plane orthogonal to the direction of the acoustic beam , thus permitting scanning of the skin being treated . scanning is driven by a controller 120 ( fig6 ) which automatically initiates scanning and records position and depth information for each hair follicle for imaging purposes . in particular , the controller operates a pulse / receiver 122 which operates the transducer . data from the transducer is collected in a data acquisition system 124 , while all mechanical motion of the scan head is controlled by a motor interface 126 . optionally , a display 130 can permit the operator to observe the imaged follicles in plan view , for example as shown in fig3 , through a screen 132 . the user may then select which of the imaged follicles is to be ablated using a keyboard or other interface unit 134 . once the scanning is completed , and the operator has optionally identified those follicles which are to be ablated , the treatment data may be compiled including the locations and depths of each hair follicle to be ablated . at that point , the system can begin automated ablation of the hair follicles . the controller 120 can position the transducer 106 sequentially at each follicle to be treated . the pulse / receiver will now drive the transducer to deliver a high energy burst which is focused at the hair follicle in order to kill any cells at the follicle or within the dermal papilla . the killing occurs by heating the tissue to a minimum temperature , typically at least 55 ° c ., for a time of at least 0 . 01 seconds . by firmly adhering the scan head to the skin during both the imaging and ablation phases of the treatment protocols , accurate positioning of the transducer for ablation is assured . optionally , the system could be provided with image recognition software which would permit automated positioning and confirmation of position of the transducer 106 . the information could be used for either fine positioning of the transducer or as an alert should it appear that the transducer is mispositioned . the depth of focus of the transducer can be controlled in several ways . in the case of a phased array transducer , the depth can be electronically controlled . for single element transducers , the depth can be controlled either by controlling the vertical position of the transducer over the skin surface ( e . g . by adding more or less coupling material between the transducer and the skin ), or alternatively some transducers may be provided with emitting surfaces that have a curvature which may be adjusted to control depth of focus . while the above is a complete description of the preferred embodiments of the invention , various alternatives , modifications , and equivalents may be used . therefore , the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims .
hair is permanently removed from a patient &# 39 ; s skin by transcutaneously focusing high intensity acoustic energy at a hair follicle and applying sufficient energy to destroy the follicle , whereby hair is removed and regrowth is prevented . typically , a region of a patient &# 39 ; s skin would be ultrasonically imaged to show the location of a plurality of individual hair follicles . the individual imaged hair follicles are then treated using a system which automatically directs the high intensity acoustic energy at each follicle .