Guided Therapy Systems CEO Michael Slayton, PhD, has a history of breaking innovative medical technology, with a primary focus on diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound applications. He tells In Vivo about the 22-year engineering journey that has led him and the company he founded to the cusp of market launch of a non-invasive tissue regeneration device for musculoskeletal injuries.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group: Do-It-Yourself Dermatology, features profiles of Therative and Xthetix. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: iCardiac Technologies, Jenken Biosciences, Neovasc Medical, and Syntaxin.

As venture capitalists begin counting cosmetics and aesthetics companies as part of their portfolios, they're also migrating toward investing in consumer-oriented companies including those that make aesthetic devices to be used in the home.

Xthetix is developing a handheld, high-frequency ultrasound device for the up-and-coming consumer aesthetic device market, leading with a product for treating and preventing acne. By heating skin tissue at a desired target depth without heating the skin's surface, its device can quickly treat existing pimples. Since it can also deposit heat directly into the sebaceous glands and hair follicles, it can inhibit the formation of sebum and thus prevent mild to moderate acne from erupting.