This is part 3 of a four part project.
Click here for Part 1
Click here for Part 2
Click here for Part 4
(DISCLAIMER: Use the information below at your own risk. I am not a doctor nor do I know for certain that you wont give yourself a nasty burn or anything. Just use your own common sense and don’t blame me if you hurt yourself or someone else).
At this point the Frankensculptor is now ready for proper testing.
Initially, I was testing using +5degC for 1 hour. But later changed this to -3degC for 1 hour.
The rate at which it drops the temperature is roughly 10 degrees per 7 minutes. Which I believe is a safe increment of dropping skin temperature (I may be wrong here, but it seems to be fine for my purposes).
As for the actual temperature. Well, Zeltiq don’t give any indication of what the temperature is on their machines (I have looked at pictures, never done the process myself). They use a proprietary unit of measurement (which, incidentally, they create themselves) which includes not only the temperature but also the rate at which a temperature change occurs. So basically it is temperature over time. I have forgotten the name of the measurement unit, but it isn’t really needed so lets move on.
I have settled on using -5degC for two reasons:1) On the patent page (see previous blog post) it mentions a few temp ranges. -5degC sits at exactly the middle point of the ‘best’ range as per Zeltiq.
2) Other Chinese-produced knock-offs of the Coolsculptor uses -5degC. One would hope they have done their own research on this figure before mass-producing the devices.
All testing done so far has been using a conservative -3degC and bouncing between -3 and -1. This was to see if the machine would hold up and if I would hurt myself. Later on I began to use -5degC. At these temperatures you must use a rag soaked in a liquid that won’t freeze. So once again, be careful and be willing to accept some collateral damage if you rush this.
You will need to put something between your skin and the machine. Direct contact with the metal is bad.
Initially, I used a rag soaked in water and ran the machine at +3degC. This worked fine, but to get subzero temperatures we would need to change the liquid to something that wont freeze.
I began using a saltwater mixture bouncing between -3 and -1. But this is unreliable and although the rag soaked in the mixture didn’t freeze you may still damage yourself as some of the water may freeze and it can take years for the skin to go back to normal colour. Proceed with caution!
Later, I began using antifreeze/coolant to allow myself to drop down to a constant (ie. not bouncing) -5degC. I have only tested this on myself once and I didn’t get burnt. I am still yet to go through some comprehensive testing. I will need to come up with a proper test plan first.
Edit: I’ve found using a thick cloth (ie. terry towel) soaked in Propylene Glycol gives best results. Porpylene Glycol is non-toxic (you can buy a food grade bottle for fairly cheap online), transparent (doesn’t stain), easy to clean, no smell, and it doesn’t evaporate during a session. Best of all, its freezing point is -59degC. Multiple tests with a terry towel soaked in Propylene Glycol at a minimum temp of -5degC yielded great results. No freezing of the skin at all.
- Running the machine while clamped on to a fold of skin/fat
- Clamped on to the fat. Retro fitting it here.
- After a session on +3degC is done, the skin looks like this.
- The redness is normal as blood flows quickly to the area after a session. The pain is minimal but its coooooold.
- I was lucky I had plenty of guinea pigs to test on 🙂
- The aluminium thread I created was beginning to bread down against the steel rod. So I made this bracket using steel nut which was bolted to the aluminium.
- The origianl thread was directly in the aluminium, but this didnt work well as the ally is much weaker than the steel. So had to later weld this bracket and use the steel nuts thread.
- Some tack welds to hold it in place
- Mapping out the circuit for the Arduino controller.
- This is a good example. Immediately after the clamp comes off the fatty skin is firm, you need to massage this. This is exactly how it looks after an actual Coolsculpting session.
- This is a good example.
This is part 3 of a four part project.
Click here for Part 1
Click here for Part 2
Click here for Part 4
October 29, 2016 at 1:01 am
Interesting experiment! I hope anyone that tries this is very careful!
October 29, 2016 at 2:23 pm
hahaha, agreed. You have to have some courage to use this! But it works! 🙂
March 17, 2021 at 1:02 pm
Ingenious design! after having a session of coolsculpting done myself, I realized how simple the concept is. I’ve been replicating further treatments using gel packs, propylene glycol, and thermocouples.
You mentioned you were using -5C for an hour. Is this a -5C setpoint for your plate temperature? or for external skin temperature at the plate interface? In my experience, you cannot allow the external skin temperature as measured with a thermocouple to drop below -1C, or else frostbite occurs. Have you measured what temperature the skin reaches with the plates at -5C?
Thanks for sharing your design!