New horizons

We sit down with Cynosure chief executive Todd Tillemans to talk about innovation in aesthetic technologies

AM: Cynosure opened its Experience Centre in May. Why did you choose London for the first one?

TT: This is a very big milestone for Cynosure. We’re headquartered in Boston in the US but we’re a truly global company and we’ve chosen to launch in London because it’s a very trendsetting global market with a very diverse consumer base. The centre is committed to advancing aesthetics through science, technology and education, and we couldn’t think of any better to place to cement that than London. We may extend this into some other trend capitals, but we’re very happy that our first Experience Centre is in London. It’s also the location of our international headquarters.

AM: What will the space be used for?

TT: We see aesthetics as a purpose-driven industry, helping to transform lives when you engage in these wonderful treatments. We have a clear point of view as a company, but we’re also working with our doctors and patients to tell that story and stimulate a healthy, growing industry. The industry is already experiencing rapid growth, and we want to be a catalyst for helping to inspire that to happen even faster.

Above and previous page: Cynosure’s Experience Centre in London

Our mission is to discover new scientific frontiers through advances that increase treatment efficacy, reduce patient pain and downtime and improve practice management. The idea is to continue that path of scientific discovery and innovation in a collaborative setting like this, alongside world-renowned plastic surgeons, dermatologists and medical professionals, co-creating the future of aesthetics.

This is a functioning aesthetic centre, with two treatment rooms and dedicated spaces for training workshops and events that clinicians can attend, whether they work with our devices or not. We can also connect via video link through the facility, so the hope is for this to become a connected community of practitioners who are advancing the industry by sharing and learning.

AM: What are the biggest trends in energybased treatments and body contouring at the moment?

TT: We’re now seeing many more younger patients seeking “pre-juvenation”; it’s not just the more mature demographic that wants skin revitalisation. And I think there’s a new understanding that, while topicals are very important, they can’t do alone what devices can. Devices go beyond the epidermis into the dermis to stimulate neocollagenesis. They solve issues like hyperpigmentation, vascularity and acne scars – the foundational aspects of healthy skin. Then, in combination with topicals or injectables you can get a real superior outcome.These younger patients are much happier to talk about their experiences with aesthetic treatments and share them on social media. We’re currently experiencing a boom in aesthetics.

FlexSure and Potenza, Cynosure’s latest device launches in the UK

AM: Do you see any differences in patient demand for treatments across the countries you operate in?

TT: We’re fortunate to have a very global business; it’s roughly half in North America and half international. We have a very big business in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Our technology is designed to support efficacy and safety for all skin tones, including melanin-rich skins. Historically, there’s been a lot of caution – and rightly so – around the risk of energy creating postinflammatory hyperpigmentation in dark skin, but we have a technology called Skintel, which is built into some of our devices. It’s a reader that analyses the melanin content of the skin and also how much UV light it has been exposed to, and allows the practitioner to choose the right parameters for treatment.

So, that’s something we really communicate in those markets with a higher population of patients with melanin-rich skin; those patients can get the full benefit of these technologies with the highest levels of safety and efficacy.

There are also some nuances in terms of the market size of specific treatments – hair removal is larger in certain markets than others, for example, but the primary focus across the board in all countries is what we call “dermal hygiene”; those skin treatments are becoming more of a regime of care, and I think globally, we’re on a path to help patients understand the importance of increasing the frequency of these treatments.

AM: Where’s the market heading in terms of innovation?

TT: At the moment, we have a lot of research going on in radiofrequency, which is an amazing technology. We’re also looking into optics with lasers and photonics; and acoustic is also another modality that we think can offer a lot of benefits for different skin conditions.

The Skintel skin imaging and sensing that we have built-in to our devices will be a continuing sector of investment and growth, making the devices increasingly more intelligent and helping practitioners elevate their dermatology skills.