Patent ID: 8702691

Claim:
A treatment method for delivering energy at a selectable variable depth into tissue of a patient, the energy being delivered with an electrode array including a sheet electrode with a plurality of voids and a plurality of secondary electrodes each positioned in a corresponding one of the voids, the sheet electrode and the secondary electrodes separated from a surface of the tissue by a first dielectric layer, and the voids and the secondary electrodes are arranged in a matrix of rows and columns within the sheet electrode, the treatment method comprising: electrically connecting the sheet electrode and the secondary electrodes with a high frequency power supply to form a first circuit in which the sheet electrode and the secondary electrodes emulate a solid sheet of a conductive material; non-invasively delivering energy from the sheet electrode and the secondary electrodes in the first circuit and through the first dielectric layer into the tissue at a first average depth relative to the surface of the tissue, wherein the energy from the secondary electrodes is delivered in a pattern determined by the matrix of rows and columns; reconfiguring the electrical connections of the sheet electrode and the secondary electrodes to disconnect the secondary electrodes from the high frequency power supply and form a second circuit in which the sheet electrode emulates a perforated sheet of the conductive material; and non-invasively delivering energy from the sheet electrode in the second circuit and through the first dielectric layer into the tissue at a second average depth relative to the skin surface.