Patent ID: 8317782

Claim:
A non-ablative procedure for reducing skin rhytides for improving the appearance of skin tissue of a patient, comprising: A. providing a radio-frequency handpiece comprising: (a) a radio-frequency electrode comprising an elongated first member having a first end and a distal second end being the active end of the electrode, (b) at least one electrically-conductive wire at the first end and extending through the first member for connecting to and applying to the second active end a radio-frequency voltage capable of generating radio-frequency currents, (c) the second end being bare and configured to form a segment of a sphere or a dome shape wherein the second end comprises an active electrode portion having a convexly curving front surface for applying RF energy to tissue and an opposing rear-facing surface that extends transversely from the shaft's longitudinal axis, the shaft's diameter or width being concentrically disposed within the diameter of the rear-facing surface, thereby defining a dome-shaped working portion disposed on the distal end of the shaft, the active electrode portion comprising a single structural unit; B. providing a radio-frequency generating instrument for supplying radio-frequency currents in the megacycle range to the electrically-conductive wire when activated; C. applying the active end of the electrode to contact the outer surface of the patient's skin tissue having the rhytides and, while activating the radio-frequency generating instrument to apply radio-frequency currents to the patient's skin tissue having rhytides, continuously moving the electrode around the skin surface to avoid damaging the contacted skin surface while heating the dermis underneath until skin rhytides on the outer skin are reduced thereby reducing the skin rhytides without ablation of the skin tissue and without requiring external cooling.