I'm thinking this product relates to a survey that was introduced here on hairtell back in October, 2006. I filled out the survey (and actually did receive an honorarium check for $50 in a timely manner, thank you)and it was related to an ultrasonic device.

My hope is that this ultrasonic doesn't turn out to be yet another scam product. They claim it can affect any color of hair and will throw the hair follicle in an extended state of telogen. So, it is not a permanent device. How long is extended? Any physicists out there that can explain how this can work and will it work for man hair that is deep and very coarse?

Dee

Hi dfahey,

i think you probaly mixed up Applisonix

Patent:
http://v3.espacenet.com/results?IA=appli...sonix&=&=&=&=&=


with these guys

Patent:
http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2007016117&F=0&QPN=US2007016117



I believe that the Applisonix device is a long-lasting solution.

Both abstracts cited above are the same. I'm a little confused.

Do these acoustic devices operate on the same principle? Can they really generate and pinpoint enough heat to throw a follicle into and extended period of telogen? Can you explain anything about these products to us?

Do you have an invested interest in the Applisonix or are you just a "searching" informed consumer?

Thanks for any information you can offer,jeffk.

Dee

Hi Dee,

im sorry, im only a normal interested consumer.
The only things i know are from the patents above,
which seem to use the same technology but are from different inventors.

Thanks. I hope someone can chime in about these devices. I can't seem to figure out how this kind of energy will affect hair growth, but I'm hopeful there is some scientific basis behind this that makes sense.

Dee

I think the idea is that the "probe" or whatever they will call it, will be placed in such a way to cause ultrasonic vibrations down the hair shaft. I believe this is supposed to cause heat which will then cause the hair follicle to go dormant.

I'm not sure how they will focus the energy down the hair shaft though..if it is placed on the skin or just above so it just touches the hair.

In any event, when I wrote them this past autumn, I think they were still looking for investors. It's supposed to be a long-term, non-permanent option.

Hi Jme1,

i want to add something more here.

Im not definitely sure about the Intellectual property thing but at least Angela is the inventor of the magic cream patent:

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2006270621&F=0

What counts for you is this related patent from Sirna I just found:

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2007032441&F=0

Additionally we shouldn't be concerned if the clinical trial won't start before H1 simply because buying and restructring a company takes some time. Another interesting link from January is this:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/17979/

I also found another scientific article cited below concerning Quest and Photoderma. Both their gels contain so called ALA compounds:

"76 Dermatology 2006;213:53–80 Abstracts Assessment of Safety and Efficacy of Topical Photodynamic Therapy Using
20% 5-AlA on Excessive Hair J. Varghese, A. Anstey, S .Varma, N. Nicolau University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK

The aim of this study was to examine the safety and efficacy of topical 5-ALA PDT in hirsutism. To achieve this, 13 subjects were recruited in a single blind study; nine were healthy volunteers and four were hirsute patients. Two matching test areas measuring 4 cm2 of normal hair was selected on the forearm in healthy volunteers. However in patients with hirsutism two areas of excessive hair measuring 4 cm2 were selected. In both the patients and the healthy volunteers, one of the selected areas was treated with 20% topical 5-ALA and other area with placebo cream. Hair counting using a video microscope was carried out before and after treatment in both the treated areas. Treated areas were also photographed in a standardised manner before and after treatment. One area of excessive hair was treated with PDT using topical 5-ALA and other sites were treated with topical placebo cream. Subjects treated with 5-ALA sites showed a mean hair loss of 44 _ 25 by week one compared with the control sites
16 _ 16. This difference was statistically significant (p _ 0.003). The mean hair loss in the treated site by week four was 57 _ 20% in comparison the placebo site showed a mean hair loss of 29 _ 22. This difference failed to reach statistical significance (p _ 0.06). Erythema and pain as assessed by a clinical scoring grade (0–3) according to severity was experienced by all the subjects on the day of treatment but improved by week one and totally disappeared by week four on both the treated site and placebo site. We have concluded that topical PDT using 20% 5-ALA is an effective and cheap therapeutic option for patients with hirsutism. As side-effects associated with the treatment are tolerable and reversible, PDT also appears suitable for treatment of larger areas of excessive hair."

I hope these links help a bit.

Jeff,

Thank you for the information. You will definitely need to keep up with this and keep the forum informed on any further information that you might come across.

As far as the 5-ALA PDT. Do you know whether the treatment with this topical included the use of light as what Quest is using in their clinical trials, or was it just simply applied and hair loss was observed?

A 20% reduction is quite significant if it was only after one treatment. I'm interested in knowing exactly what the treatment was though. I also wonder if permanence was seen. I'm not sure if the trial was done in 2006 or earlier since the article was dated 2006. It would be nice to find out when the study took place and if the individuals taking place in the study are being tracked.

After doing some reading, I am assuming that phototherapy was most likely used for this study since this compound is being used now as a treatment for Actinic Keratosis in which phototherapy is used 3 to 6 hours after the topical is applied. It's use as a treatment for AK may be where they came about using it as a treatment for hair removal as hair loss was noted in patients being treated for AK.

Thank you Jme1, I'll do my best.

Regarding the cited article above:
The "_" between the two figures shoould be read as "±".
I am not an expert, but I interpret it as following:
Laser or IPL or maybe phototehrapy as you mentioned was used both with ALA and with placebo cream.
With ALA cream hair loss after week one was 44 ± 25 % and with placebo only 16 ± 16 %, week four accordingly.

I also did some research on the webpages of the guys conducting this trial but haven't found any more information. Nor do I have any information about these subjects included and what happened to them.

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/pro...ename=92842.pdf

Thats all i know

But let me write it again: Things have NEVER been better than today for people having problems with excessive hair. I belive that in lets say 3 years from now we will have 2 or 3 efficient and cheap methods for removing hair, maybe not permanent forever, but at least long-lasting. And as soon as they will be marketed, prices for laser and other treatments will drop too.

There are changes on

http://www.sirna.com

But no news on our magic cream...

Here is a link to some (all???) clinical trials sponsored by
Merck:

http://www.merck.com/mrl/clinical_trials/enrolling.html

-> I haven't found anything about hair removal here,

BUT maybe there is something else on the horizon (but still very far away). Been searchin the web for about 1 hour on the guy and on SCRAS, but found nothing interesting

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=EP1722813&F=0

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=WO2005087258&F=0&QPN=WO2005087258