Face lifting devices in Singapore, compared by energy type and depth

Face lifting devices in Singapore: the two energy families

Non-surgical face lifting devices in Singapore use one of two kinds of energy to heat tissue beneath the skin surface: ultrasound or radiofrequency (RF). Knowing which family a device belongs to explains most of its published specification.

• Focused ultrasound (HIFU and micro-focused ultrasound). Sound waves are focused to small points at a set depth, in the way a lens focuses light. Each cartridge or transducer has a fixed depth printed on it in millimetres. Ultherapy PRIME and Ultraformer MPT belong here.
• Parallel-beam ultrasound. Sofwave also uses ultrasound, but its maker describes parallel beams that heat a band within the dermis instead of focused points.
• Monopolar radiofrequency. An electrical current at radio frequency passes from a cooled tip on the skin and heats tissue through its electrical resistance. These devices publish a frequency and tip sizes, not a depth in millimetres. Thermage FLX, Volnewmer and Oligio belong here.

This guide covers six devices for which we could open the maker's own page, the maker's own document or a published paper. Other device names you may see advertised are left out because we could not source their specifications to that standard, not because of any view about them.

At SkinRev Lab, the medical treatments that use devices on this list are HIFU and VF Lift, both performed by Dr Sin Yong, medical adviser, after a consultation. Both are priced at consultation.

HIFU and RF face lifting devices compared

The table lists each device by maker, energy type and the frequency, depths or tip sizes its maker or a published paper states. Not stated means the figure was not in the source we opened.

The table is a list of specifications, not a ranking. A deeper cartridge or a larger tip describes where and how widely energy is delivered; it says nothing by itself about what a treatment will do for a particular face. Each device has a short section below with the source for its row.

Ultherapy PRIME: focused ultrasound with imaging

Ultherapy PRIME is a focused ultrasound device made by Ulthera, Inc., part of Merz Aesthetics, and its distinguishing published feature is that the same handpiece images the tissue before treating it. The maker's instructions for use state that the system allows ultrasonic visualisation of depths up to 8 mm below the skin surface.

The maker's document lists these transducers:

• 10 MHz, treating at 1.5 mm;
• 7 MHz, treating at 3.0 mm;
• 7 MHz and 4 MHz, each treating at 4.5 mm;
• narrow versions of the 1.5 mm and 3.0 mm transducers for smaller areas.

Energy is delivered in lines up to 25 mm long. The uses the maker's instructions list are lifting the eyebrow, lifting lax tissue beneath the chin and on the neck, and improving lines of the décolleté. Our Ultherapy guide describes a session as an assessment, gel, on-screen checks and then lines of energy, often at two depths, with the number and timing of sessions set by the treating doctor.

SkinRev Lab does not offer Ultherapy or Ultherapy PRIME. The nearest treatment it offers is HIFU on the Ultraformer MPT, which is also focused ultrasound. Read more in our Ultherapy guide and in Ultherapy vs HIFU.

Ultraformer MPT: focused ultrasound with seven depths

Ultraformer MPT is a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) device made by CLASSYS, and its published specification centres on a range of interchangeable cartridges at seven depths. The maker lists ten cartridges in all.

• Face cartridges: 1.5, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.5 mm.
• Body cartridges: 6.0, 9.0 and 13 mm.
• Booster cartridges: 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 mm, which deliver energy in a circular pattern through a separate handpiece.

CLASSYS describes more than one way of delivering the energy: a normal mode that places it in a dot pattern, and a micro-pulsed mode it calls MP mode, described as broader heating. The published output range is 0.1 to 2.0 joules in steps of 0.1. The maker's page does not state an operating frequency in megahertz. It describes a session as assessing the area and setting the number of shots, applying ultrasound gel and then delivering energy at the chosen depths.

SkinRev Lab offers this device. Dr Sin Yong performs HIFU on the Ultraformer MPT after a consultation and examination. A session takes about 30 to 60 minutes depending on the areas treated, numbing cream may be applied first, and the price is quoted at consultation. Device details are on our Ultraformer MPT page.

Sofwave: parallel-beam ultrasound in the dermis

Sofwave is an ultrasound device made by Sofwave Inc. that its maker describes as using parallel beams, not focused points. The company's name for this is Synchronous Ultrasound Parallel Beam technology, shortened to SUPERB.

The maker's white paper describes:

• a handpiece with seven individual ultrasound transducers that sit against the skin;
• cylinder-shaped zones of heating that lie parallel to the skin surface;
• a thermal effect localised between 0.5 and 2 mm within the dermis, centred at a depth of 1.5 mm;
• integrated cooling of the skin surface, which the maker calls Sofcool.

The white paper describes the beams as high-frequency without giving a figure in megahertz. Because the heating stays within the dermis, Sofwave's published depth is shallower than the 3.0 and 4.5 mm cartridges of the focused ultrasound devices above. That is a description of where the energy is placed, and it is not a statement about results.

At SkinRev Lab, medical HIFU is performed on the Ultraformer MPT, whose face cartridges include a 1.5 mm depth alongside the deeper ones. Whether a dermal-only or a multi-depth approach is appropriate is something a doctor decides after examining the skin.

Thermage FLX: monopolar radiofrequency

Thermage FLX is a monopolar radiofrequency device made by Solta Medical, and the maker's device description gives its operating frequency as 6.78 MHz. The maker describes a handheld applicator that delivers RF energy with integrated cooling and vibration.

Solta Medical lists four treatment tips:

• Total Tip 4.0 and Total Tip 3.0 (square centimetres), for the face and body;
• Eye Tip 0.25, for the eyelids and around the eyes, used with eye shields;
• Body Tip 16.0.

Each tip is designed to deliver a specific number of pulses and cannot be reused afterwards. The maker states that most treatments take between 30 and 60 minutes depending on the area, and presents the treatment as a single session with a yearly repeat as an option. It states that Thermage must not be used in people with a cardiac pacemaker, defibrillator or other electrical implant. Its pages do not give a treatment depth in millimetres.

SkinRev Lab does not offer Thermage. The nearest treatment it offers is VF Lift on the Volnewmer, which is also 6.78 MHz monopolar RF. Read more in our Thermage guide, or see the two devices set side by side in Volnewmer vs Thermage.

Volnewmer: monopolar radiofrequency with water cooling

Volnewmer is a monopolar radiofrequency device made by CLASSYS, which describes it as 6.78 MHz monopolar radio frequency technology with continuous water cooling at the tip. The maker's specification table lists a power of 115 W and two handpieces.

CLASSYS publishes four tips:

• I Tip, 0.25 square centimetres, for the eye area;
• F Tip, 3.0 square centimetres, for the jawline and chin;
• V Tip, 4.0 square centimetres, the main face tip;
• S Tip, 16.0 square centimetres, for the body.

The maker states that the tip automatically performs an impedance check before each shot, and describes the RF energy as travelling from the papillary dermis to the reticular dermis while contact cooling protects the surface. Its page does not give a depth in millimetres or a session length.

SkinRev Lab offers this device. Dr Sin Yong performs VF Lift on the Volnewmer himself, applying the RF along vertical vectors. VF Lift is radiofrequency only, a session takes about 60 to 90 minutes for the face and neck, and it is priced at consultation. In September 2026 CLASSYS invited Dr Sin Yong to its academy in São Paulo to teach doctors in Brazil his VF Lift protocol on the device. Device details are on our Volnewmer page.

Oligio: monopolar radiofrequency

Oligio is a monopolar radiofrequency device made by Won Tech, a Korean company, and a published study describes it as working at 6.78 MHz. We could not open the maker's own product page, so the figures here come from that paper.

The study, published in 2022, describes:

• a monopolar RF device with a disposable treatment tip that has a working area of 2 by 2 cm, or 4 square centimetres;
• contact cooling from a cryogen spray on the inner surface of the tip before, during and after each energy pulse;
• a single session for the lower face in 30 volunteers in Thailand, with an average of about 412 shots delivered in three to four passes;
• follow-up visits at one, three and six months, with photographs graded by two dermatologists who did not know which images were which.

That places Oligio in the same family as Thermage FLX and Volnewmer: the same energy type and the same published frequency, with a 4 square centimetre face tip. The cooling method described for it is cryogen, as listed for Thermage, while Volnewmer's maker describes water cooling.

At SkinRev Lab, VF Lift is performed on the Volnewmer. Our Oligio guide covers the device and its newer model.

Which of these devices SkinRev Lab offers

SkinRev Lab uses two of the six devices on this page, one from each energy family: the Ultraformer MPT for HIFU and the Volnewmer for VF Lift.

• Offered: Ultraformer MPT. Used for HIFU, performed by Dr Sin Yong. Priced at consultation.
• Offered: Volnewmer. Used for VF Lift, performed by Dr Sin Yong. Priced at consultation.
• Not offered: Ultherapy, Ultherapy PRIME and Thermage.

HIFU and VF Lift are separate treatments. Our VF Lift page explains that VF Lift contains no focused ultrasound, and that HIFU for deeper layers is sequenced at review instead of being bundled into the same session.

SkinRev Lab also has non-medical treatments performed by Aesthetic Therapists, which use different technology from the devices in the table:

• SKINLIFT®, a non-medical ultrasound treatment. Our HIFU page states that it is not the same as medical HIFU.
• SKINTIGHT®, non-medical microplasma on the Alma PrimeX.

None of these treatments removes excess skin. Where laxity is heavy, surgery is the relevant comparison, and SkinRev Lab does not perform surgery; see what we do not offer. If you want a device that is not offered here, ask a provider directly whether they have it and who performs it.

How to choose between face lifting devices

The choice between face lifting devices is made at a consultation, because the published specifications describe the machines and not your face. A specification can tell you what kind of energy is used and where it is placed; it cannot tell you whether that suits your skin thickness, the amount of laxity or your medical history.

Questions worth asking any provider:

1. Which device is it, and who makes it? Brand names are sometimes used loosely. Ask for the device name as printed on the machine.
2. Is it ultrasound or radiofrequency? The two families heat tissue differently and are planned differently.
3. Which depths or tips will be used, and how many lines or shots? This is the plan itself.
4. Who performs the treatment? At SkinRev Lab, Dr Sin Yong performs HIFU and VF Lift.
5. What should I expect afterwards, and who do I contact with a concern?
6. Is there anything in my history that changes the plan? Mention pregnancy, implanted electronic devices, metal implants, fillers, threads and skin conditions.
7. What does the quote include? Ask whether consultation, review and GST are part of it.

Our HIFU page states that HIFU usually suits adults with mild to moderate laxity, and that a very thin face, heavy sagging with folds of excess skin, or volume loss as the main concern may call for a different approach. For a comparison of the two families, see HIFU vs Thermage.