Seoul
Chief MD, Gangnam
Duk-ha Kim
The trust our patients have placed in this clinic was built on conviction and principle. We intend to hold to both, unchanged, through the next hundred years.
Focused-ultrasound device guide
LIFTERA
LIFTERA is a focused-ultrasound (HIFU) device line made by ASTERASYS Co., Ltd. in Korea. The intended-use statement the manufacturer publishes in Korea for LIFTERA-A describes a device that uses focused ultrasound to coagulate tissue for eyebrow lifting — a narrower scope than the whole-face lifting language that often appears on clinic menus.
- Manufacturer
- ASTERASYS Co., Ltd. (Korea)
- Energy
- High intensity focused ultrasound, described with TDT
- Cartridges
- 4 MHz / 4.5 mm, 7 MHz / 1.5 mm, 7 MHz / 3.0 mm
- Korean intended use
- Eyebrow lifting by coagulating tissue with focused ultrasound
What is LIFTERA, and who makes it?
LIFTERA is a device line from ASTERASYS Co., Ltd., a Korean manufacturer. The company product page presents it as a high intensity focused ultrasound platform, described together with the manufacturer’s TDT notation, and lists several model names within the same line. Company materials also carry a CLASS IIa marking — that is the manufacturer’s own labelling, and it should not be read as a statement of how any particular national regulator has graded the device.
What is LIFTERA licensed to do in Korea?
The intended-use statement Asterasys publishes in Korea for LIFTERA-A (focused ultrasound stimulator system) describes an instrument that uses focused ultrasound to coagulate tissue in order to lift the eyebrows. Eyebrow lifting is the scope of that published statement. Whole-face lifting, jawline contouring or neck tightening are not what that intended-use sentence says, so if a menu line implies them, treat that as clinic-level treatment planning rather than as the licensed indication.
Which cartridge frequencies and depths does the line use?
The manufacturer lists cartridges at 4 MHz with a 4.5 mm focal depth, 7 MHz with a 1.5 mm focal depth, and 7 MHz with a 3.0 mm focal depth. Frequency and focal depth are paired in the cartridge, so the operator selects a depth by selecting a cartridge, not by turning a depth dial. Those three numbers describe what the hardware can target; they are not a statement about how much change any individual will see.
Sources: Asterasys — LIFTERA-V official product pageAsterasys — LIFTERA line cartridge specifications
Is there a US regulatory listing under this name?
No US clearance is listed under the LIFTERA name. An openFDA search returns one Asterasys clearance, and it belongs to a different product (Coolfase, K250852) — a clearance for one product is not a clearance for another, and it cannot be quoted for this device. Focused ultrasound stimulator systems for aesthetic use are regulated in the US under 21 CFR 878.4590, product code OHV, with Class II special controls. That describes the pathway such devices go through; it is not evidence that this device has gone through it. No one should describe LIFTERA to you as FDA approved or FDA cleared.
Sources: FDA — focused ultrasound stimulator system for aesthetic use, Class II special controls guidance
What does a shot count actually measure?
The Line Cartridge specification sets the irradiation line at 5.0 to 25 mm in 5.0 mm steps, with spacing options of 1.5, 1.8 or 2.0 mm, at ten shots per second. FDA guidance for this device category describes one shot as roughly a 1 mm³ treatment zone created by an exposure of 10 to 100 ms. Put those together and the consequence is practical: change the line length or the spacing and the same area consumes a different number of shots. A larger number can mean a larger area, or it can mean tighter spacing over the same area. The count on its own does not tell you which.
Sources: Asterasys — LIFTERA line cartridge specificationsFDA — focused ultrasound stimulator system for aesthetic use, Class II special controls guidance
What does the manufacturer say about its overseas pages?
The Korean site posts a notice when you enter its product pages: content on overseas sites may cover different product items from the domestic product, and it is not subject to Korean advertising review or regulation. That notice comes from the manufacturer itself, and it is the reason specifications, indications or marketing copy collected from an international page should not be used as the description of a treatment performed in Korea. If a clinic shows you material from an overseas page, ask whether the item in front of you is the same one.
Sources: Asterasys Korea — LIFTERA-A intended useAsterasys — LIFTERA-V official product page
What does the published HIFU evidence cover, and what is missing here?
A 2025 systematic review in Aesthetic Surgery Journal covered January 2010 to October 2024 and included 45 clinical trials and cohorts. It reported improvement in skin laxity measures in the range of 18 to 30 percent, with adverse events in under 5 percent of cases, mostly transient erythema and edema. The authors graded the body of work as Level of Evidence 3 and stated plainly that protocols are not standardised and that long-term efficacy evidence is limited. All of that is about HIFU as a category. It is not a study of LIFTERA: a PubMed search for LIFTERA returns no results, so no device-specific randomised trial or systematic review was found for this device.
Sources: Aesthet Surg J 2025;45(7):690-698 — systematic review of HIFU
How long does the effect last?
The 2025 systematic review covering January 2010 to October 2024 measured a skin laxity improvement of 18 to 30 percent across the 45 trials and cohorts it pooled, but its authors graded that body of evidence as Level of Evidence 3 and stated plainly that protocols are not standardised and that long-term efficacy evidence is limited. That review describes HIFU as a category, not LIFTERA specifically — a PubMed search for LIFTERA returns no results, so there is no device-specific trial reporting how long a result from this device holds. What the records here do establish is that the cartridge, frequency and focal depth determine which tissue plane the ultrasound targets, and that the treated area and settings a clinic chooses can differ from one session to the next even under the same brand name. Ask the clinic which cartridge and settings the reviewed evidence actually covers, whether the plan follows a published protocol or the clinic’s own, and what re-treatment interval they recommend and on what basis — none of the sources cited here fix one.
Sources: Aesthet Surg J 2025;45(7):690-698 — systematic review of HIFU
Which harms are reported for devices in this category?
A 2025 Dermatologic Surgery review examined 19 publications covering 506 patients together with 106 reports in the FDA MAUDE database. In the published literature, serious adverse events were uncommon. In MAUDE, the most frequently reported problems were fat atrophy, neurological sequelae — nerve injury, localised numbness, paresthesia and eyelid ptosis — and scarring. MAUDE is voluntary reporting aggregated at product-code level, so it cannot be converted into a complication rate for any single device, including this one. What it does show reliably is which kinds of harm get reported, which is what a consultation should cover.
Sources: Dermatol Surg 2025;51(4):424-429 — HIFU adverse events, literature and FDA MAUDE
What should you confirm before booking?
Ask which model and cartridge will be used and why that focal depth suits the area being assessed; what line length and spacing sit behind the quoted shot count, and which areas that count covers; how the proposed treatment relates to the published intended use; who performs the treatment; which short-lived reactions are expected and what aftercare applies; and how to reach the clinic if something changes afterwards. Disclose current medicines, implanted devices, prior energy, thread or filler procedures, any nerve or sensory problems, a tendency to keloid or hypertrophic scarring, and pregnancy or breastfeeding, then ask which of those change the plan.
Claim, source, limit: what can this material actually support?
This table separates what the cited sources state from what they are sometimes used to imply. It is a consultation map, not a ranking of devices.
| Point of comparison | What the sourced material states | What it does not support | Confirm before comparing quotes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licensed intended use | The Korean intended-use statement for LIFTERA-A covers coagulating tissue with focused ultrasound for eyebrow lifting | It does not state a whole-face lifting indication | Which area is being proposed, and whether that is presented as an indication or as the clinic’s plan |
| US regulatory listing | Aesthetic focused ultrasound stimulators fall under 21 CFR 878.4590, product code OHV, Class II special controls | No clearance is listed under the LIFTERA name, and another Asterasys product’s clearance is not this device’s | That nothing in the quote or consultation calls this device FDA approved or FDA cleared |
| Clinical evidence | A 2025 systematic review covers HIFU as a category: 45 trials and cohorts, Level of Evidence 3, protocols not standardised | No device-specific trial or review for LIFTERA was found in PubMed | Whether a claim you are shown is about this device or about HIFU in general |
| Shot count | Line cartridge lines run 5.0 to 25 mm in 5.0 mm steps with 1.5, 1.8 or 2.0 mm spacing, at ten shots per second | A shot number alone does not define treated area, depth or energy | Line length, spacing, cartridge and covered area behind the number |
| Overseas specifications | The manufacturer notifies visitors that overseas-site content may cover different product items and is outside Korean advertising regulation | International page content cannot be used as the description of the Korean treatment | That any printout or screenshot you are shown refers to the item actually being used |
Nothing here compares LIFTERA against other manufacturers’ systems on effectiveness. The cited sources do not support that comparison in either direction.
Medical care at Abijou
Care is provided by the medical team at the branch you select. These clinicians lead the three branches linked from this guide; confirm the doctor assigned to your visit with that branch.
Chief MD, Myeongdong
Cheol-su Yoon
I want to be thinking about how the patient feels right up to the last moment of the procedure.
Chief MD, Hongdae
Jae-wook Kim
I will give my best with the attentiveness to catch even the smallest change.
Listed branch medical team — not a medical-review byline for this article.
Frequently asked questions
Is LIFTERA the same thing as a generic “HIFU lifting” menu item?
No — LIFTERA is a specific device line from ASTERASYS Co., Ltd. in Korea, while “HIFU lifting” is a category label that several manufacturers’ systems sit under. The distinction matters at booking because the category label tells you nothing about the cartridge, the focal depth or the area that will be treated. Ask for the device line and model to be written on the quote, then ask which cartridge is planned for which area.
What do the letters after LIFTERA mean, such as -A or -V?
They are model names within the same product line, not marketing tiers. The current Asterasys product page is for LIFTERA-V, while the Korean intended-use statement cited on this page is published for LIFTERA-A, so the documents you can check are not always about the same model. Ask the clinic which model is installed, and do not assume a document about one model describes another.
What does the difference between 4 MHz and 7 MHz change?
Frequency is paired with focal depth in the cartridge itself: the manufacturer lists 4 MHz at 4.5 mm, 7 MHz at 1.5 mm and 7 MHz at 3.0 mm. Choosing a depth therefore means choosing a cartridge rather than adjusting a setting mid-treatment. FDA guidance for this device category describes each shot as roughly a 1 mm³ zone formed by a 10 to 100 ms exposure, which is a description of how energy is delivered, not a statement of what result follows.
The clinic offers LIFTERA for the whole face. Is that the licensed use in Korea?
The published Korean intended-use statement is narrower than that: it describes using focused ultrasound to coagulate tissue for eyebrow lifting. Treating other facial areas is a clinical decision made by the treating doctor, and it should be presented to you that way rather than as an approved indication. Ask the clinic to state which part of the proposal follows the published intended use and which part is its own treatment planning, then decide with that distinction in front of you.
How does LIFTERA compare with other HIFU devices?
On published evidence, the honest answer is that there is less to compare than marketing suggests: a PubMed search for LIFTERA returns no results, so no device-specific trial or systematic review was found. Some other systems publish their own studies and some do not, so the comparison that can actually be made is between the documentation each device has, not between promotional tiers. Ask each clinic what evidence its claims rest on, and whether that evidence is about the specific device or about HIFU as a category.
Two clinics quote the same number of shots. Is that the same treatment?
Not necessarily — the shot count depends on settings that can differ between the two. The Line Cartridge runs an irradiation line of 5.0 to 25 mm in 5.0 mm steps, with 1.5, 1.8 or 2.0 mm spacing, so the same area can be covered with very different totals. A higher count can mean a wider area, or tighter spacing over the same area, or shorter lines. Ask for line length, spacing, cartridge and treated area alongside the number before treating two quotes as equivalent.
How uncomfortable is the treatment?
Sensation varies by person, by cartridge depth and by the energy used, and these sources do not publish a pain scale for this specific device. The HIFU systematic review cited here records adverse events in under 5 percent of cases across 45 trials and cohorts, predominantly transient erythema and edema, which is category-level data rather than a per-patient prediction. Tell the operator during treatment if an area is hard to tolerate, and ask beforehand how energy and shot count are adjusted for sensitivity.
What short-lived reactions are documented, and how long do they last?
Transient erythema and edema are the reactions most often recorded in the HIFU literature, reported in under 5 percent of cases in the 2025 systematic review. That review does not publish per-device recovery timelines, and the authors specifically note that protocols across studies are not standardised, so a precise duration cannot be quoted for this device. Plan for the possibility of visible redness rather than assuming none, and ask the clinic what it observes in practice and what aftercare it recommends.
How many sessions should I have, and how far apart?
No repeat interval is published for this device in the sources cited here, so the schedule is a clinical judgement rather than a specification. The systematic review makes this concrete: it identified a lack of protocol standardisation across 45 studies and limited long-term efficacy evidence, which is exactly why a fixed package schedule should not be presented as evidence-based. Ask what the proposed interval is based on and what would be reassessed before a further session.
What are the more serious harms reported for this kind of device?
The Dermatologic Surgery review found that the most frequently reported problems in the FDA MAUDE database were fat atrophy, neurological sequelae including nerve injury, localised numbness, paresthesia and eyelid ptosis, and scarring. Serious events were uncommon in the 19 published studies covering 506 patients that the same review examined. MAUDE data is voluntary and aggregated at product-code level, so it does not give a complication rate for LIFTERA or any single device — but it does show which harms to ask about, and numbness, altered sensation or a drooping eyelid after treatment should be reported to the clinic promptly.
What should I disclose before treatment?
Disclose current medicines, implanted electronic devices, prior energy-based, thread or filler procedures in the area, any nerve or sensory problems, a tendency to keloid or hypertrophic scarring, and pregnancy or breastfeeding. The sources cited here do not publish a patient-facing contraindication list for this device, which means the disclosure has to do that work at consultation instead of a printed list. Ask the doctor which of the items you disclose change the plan, the cartridge choice or the areas treated.
Is LIFTERA FDA approved?
No — no FDA clearance is listed under the LIFTERA name, so it should not be described as FDA approved or FDA cleared. An openFDA search returns one Asterasys clearance, which belongs to a different product and cannot be transferred to this one. In the US, aesthetic focused ultrasound stimulator systems are regulated under 21 CFR 878.4590, product code OHV, with Class II special controls, which describes the category rather than this device’s status. The CLASS IIa marking that appears in manufacturer material is the manufacturer’s own labelling, not a ruling by a named regulator, and the Korean intended-use statement covers eyebrow lifting.
How do I compare two LIFTERA quotes fairly?
Line up the variables that change the number before you look at the number. Those are the model name, the cartridge frequency and depth, the treated areas, the line length and spacing, the total shot count and what it covers, who performs the treatment, and whether review visits or aftercare are included. Because line length and spacing change how many shots an area consumes, two quotes only become comparable once those are written down. Ask for them in writing, in a language you can read.
How do I judge whether this treatment matches what I want?
Start from the gap between what you want and what the sourced material actually supports. The published Korean intended use covers eyebrow lifting; the efficacy evidence is category-level, graded Level of Evidence 3, with protocols not standardised and limited long-term data; and no device-specific study was found. If your goal is a specific facial change, ask the doctor what the proposal is based on, what assessment led to it, and what alternatives were considered — and be wary of any answer that presents a guaranteed outcome.
How Abijou works
We started in Gangnam in 2006 and the network now runs 17 branches across Korea. The line we work to is skin transformation woven into everyday life — care you can keep up with, rather than one dramatic change.
- Across the 17 branches in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon and Busan: over 1,000 medical professionals and more than 350 certified medical devices
- Authentic products only, in appropriate amounts — the treatment is fitted to the condition, not to a package
- Prices are quoted from each branch’s published price list as it stands
Contact and location
- Phone
- 1544-0377
Free Consultation
Booking happens at the branch
There is no inquiry form on this page. Once you have picked a branch above, open that branch’s site or the official reservation center and choose a time yourself.
- No deposit and no online prepayment — everything is paid at the visit
- Per-treatment prices are published for each branch on the official reservation center
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