Skip to content

A Study to Assess the Adverse Events and Effectiveness of Rapid Acoustic Pulse (RAP) Device for the Appearance of Cellulite in Adult Participants

A Single-Center, Prospective Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of Multi-Treatment Regimen With Zeltiq Aesthetics, Inc. Rapid Acoustic Pulse (RAP)™ Device for the Improvement in the Appearance of Cellulite

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05664581
Enrollment
14
Registered
2022-12-23
Start date
2022-12-14
Completion date
2024-07-26
Last updated
2025-07-18

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cellulite

Keywords

Rapid Acoustic Pulse, RAP, Cellulite

Brief summary

Cellulite is the rippling or dimpling of the skin most commonly located on the thighs and buttocks of women. Its appearance and texture are often likened to that of cottage cheese or an orange peel. Rapid Acoustic Pulse (RAP) is an electrohydraulic (EH) device developed to improve the appearance of cellulite through microscopic disruption of the connection between the skin and underlying tissue leading to a reduction in the severity of dimples and ridges. The purpose of this study is to assess adverse events and effectiveness of RAP in adults seeking treatment of cellulite. RAP is an FDA approved device for the short-term improvement in the appearance of cellulite in the buttocks and thighs. Participants 18-50 years of age seeking treatment of cellulite will be enrolled. Up to 15 participants will be enrolled in the study at 1 site in the United States. Participants will receive 3 separate cellulite treatment sessions. Each treatment session will consist of RAP treatment delivered to bilateral thigh and/or buttock areas using the same treatment settings for both sides. The study duration is up to 72 weeks. There may be higher treatment burden for participants in this trial compared to their standard of care. Participants will attend regular visits during the study at a clinic. The effect of the treatment will be checked by medical assessments, checking for side effects and completing questionnaires.

Interventions

Transdermal Rapid Acoustic Pulse Treatments

Sponsors

Zeltiq Aesthetics
Lead SponsorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Participants seeking treatment of cellulite in the thigh and/or buttock areas. * Areas of moderate to severe cellulite on bilateral thigh and/or buttock using the Cellulite Dimple - At Rest Scale at Baseline with grades of 2 or 3 based on review of photos taken under the same lightening conditions planned for the trial. * Participant will not have had invasive or energy-based cellulite (liposuction, subcision, RF, laser, ESWT, cryo-lipolysis, muscle stimulation, etc.) treatments in the treatment areas in the prior 12 months. * Participant will not have used topical based cellulite treatments for prior 3 months and will not use during the trial * Participant will not have used spray-on tanning treatments for 3 months prior to or during the term of the trial.

Exclusion criteria

* Metal or plastic implants (vascular stent, or implants in the hips, knees, etc.) in the treatment areas. * Active electronic implants such as pacemakers, defibrillators * History of coagulopathy and/or on anticoagulant medication * Skin disorders (skin infections or rashes, psoriasis, etc.) in the treatment areas. * Medical disorder that would hinder wound healing or immune response. * Any surgical procedure in the treatment areas in the prior 3 months or planned during the duration of the study. * Any other condition/disease/situation which, as deemed by the PI, would preclude participant from safely participating in or completing the study visits or that may confound study results.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percentage of Before and After Side-by-side Photographs Correctly Identified by At Least 2 of 3 Blinded Reviewers From the Independent Physician Reviewer (IPR) PanelBaseline, 12 weeks post-final treatmentPhotographs of the treatment areas were taken at baseline, and at 12-weeks after post-final treatment to determine if the RAP treatment had the effect of improvement in the appearance of cellulite. The photographs were assessed by blinded independent reviewers (IPR) to correctly identify the 12-weeks post-treatment photographs from randomly placed side-by-side comparison of before and after photographs. Reported here is the percentage (%) of images that were correctly identified by at least 2 out of 3 blinded independent reviewers.
Number of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEsWeek 1 up to 52 weeks post-final treatmentAn adverse event (AE) was defined as any unfavorable or unintended sign, symptom, or disease that occurred or was reported by the participant to have occurred, or a worsening of a pre-existing condition. A SAE resulted in death, was life threatening, required hospitalization, was a persistent or significant disability/incapacity, a birth defect, or was an event that required medical intervention. An ADE was defined as any AE with a reasonable possibility (definitely, probably, possibly, or remotely related) that the event may have been caused by the study device only.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of Participants With Agree or Strongly Agree Responses to the Participant Satisfaction Survey in the Improvement in Appearance of CelluliteBaseline, 12 weeks post-final treatmentThe study participant responded to the Participant Satisfaction Survey statement, In comparison to the pre-treatment photo, the 12 week photograph of the treatment area appears improved. Response choices to this statement were Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree, with Strongly Agree representing the greatest perceived improvement in the appearance of cellulite. Reported here is the number of participants who responded with Agree or Strongly Agree. Data are reported for response to photographs on the left and right side of the body.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Recruitment details

Fourteen participants were enrolled at 1 study site in the United States.

Pre-assignment details

The Full Analysis Set (FAS) included all participants who received three assigned treatments with the device and completed the 12-week follow-up visit per the protocol (N=14). The Safety Analysis Set included all enrolled participants who received any treatments (N=14).

Participants by arm

ArmCount
All Participants
Participants received 3 separate transdermal Rapid Acoustic Pulse (RAP) cellulite treatment sessions on weeks 1, 4, and 16 delivered to bilateral thigh and/or buttock areas using the same treatment settings for both sides.
14
Total14

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject2

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicAll Participants
Age, Continuous39.5 Years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 5.06
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
2 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
12 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
14 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 14
other
Total, other adverse events
2 / 14
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 14

Outcome results

Primary

Number of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEs

An adverse event (AE) was defined as any unfavorable or unintended sign, symptom, or disease that occurred or was reported by the participant to have occurred, or a worsening of a pre-existing condition. A SAE resulted in death, was life threatening, required hospitalization, was a persistent or significant disability/incapacity, a birth defect, or was an event that required medical intervention. An ADE was defined as any AE with a reasonable possibility (definitely, probably, possibly, or remotely related) that the event may have been caused by the study device only.

Time frame: Week 1 up to 52 weeks post-final treatment

Population: Safety Population

ArmMeasureGroupValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
All ParticipantsNumber of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEsAEs2 Participants
All ParticipantsNumber of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEsSAEs0 Participants
All ParticipantsNumber of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEsADEs2 Participants
All ParticipantsNumber of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEsSADEs0 Participants
All ParticipantsNumber of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEsUnanticipated AEs2 Participants
All ParticipantsNumber of Participants With Device-related or Treatment-related: Adverse Events (AEs), Serious AEs (SAEs), Adverse Device Events (ADEs), Serious ADEs (SADEs), Unanticipated AEs or Unanticipated ADEsUnanticipated ADEs0 Participants
Primary

Percentage of Before and After Side-by-side Photographs Correctly Identified by At Least 2 of 3 Blinded Reviewers From the Independent Physician Reviewer (IPR) Panel

Photographs of the treatment areas were taken at baseline, and at 12-weeks after post-final treatment to determine if the RAP treatment had the effect of improvement in the appearance of cellulite. The photographs were assessed by blinded independent reviewers (IPR) to correctly identify the 12-weeks post-treatment photographs from randomly placed side-by-side comparison of before and after photographs. Reported here is the percentage (%) of images that were correctly identified by at least 2 out of 3 blinded independent reviewers.

Time frame: Baseline, 12 weeks post-final treatment

Population: Full Analysis Set

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
All ParticipantsPercentage of Before and After Side-by-side Photographs Correctly Identified by At Least 2 of 3 Blinded Reviewers From the Independent Physician Reviewer (IPR) Panel71.4 % of images identified correctly
Secondary

Number of Participants With Agree or Strongly Agree Responses to the Participant Satisfaction Survey in the Improvement in Appearance of Cellulite

The study participant responded to the Participant Satisfaction Survey statement, In comparison to the pre-treatment photo, the 12 week photograph of the treatment area appears improved. Response choices to this statement were Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree, with Strongly Agree representing the greatest perceived improvement in the appearance of cellulite. Reported here is the number of participants who responded with Agree or Strongly Agree. Data are reported for response to photographs on the left and right side of the body.

Time frame: Baseline, 12 weeks post-final treatment

Population: Full Analysis Set

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
All ParticipantsNumber of Participants With Agree or Strongly Agree Responses to the Participant Satisfaction Survey in the Improvement in Appearance of Cellulite5 participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026