Physics of fractional microneedle radiofrequency - A review

Fractional microneedle radiofrequency (RF) is a novel device that is gaining popularity in the treatment of many esthetic and dermatological conditions. The encouraging effectiveness and side-effect profile, along with little or no recovery time makes it an attractive therapeutic option. The device allows non-thermal penetration of microneedles into the dermis followed by RF-induced coagulation. The aim of this article is to provide a thorough understanding of the working principle and physics of this technology so that the clinicians can modulate its various parameters for effective treatment of a variety of dermatological conditions in all skin types. Methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data include usage of key words such as microneedling, fractional, and RF using multiple search engines such as PubMed and Google search. Multiple articles were surveyed and finally, 30 articles including a few chapters from the textbook were refined into our search. This article is an attempt to simplify the physics of fractional microneedling RF.