Secret RF Singapore:
the device, and how it is used here

What is Secret RF?

Secret RF is a fractional microneedle radiofrequency device: a handpiece fires a cartridge of fine needles into the skin to a depth the doctor sets, and bipolar radiofrequency current passes between the needles to heat small columns of tissue. The skin responds to that controlled injury by remodelling collagen and elastin over the following months. Its US FDA 510(k) summary, filed by ILOODA in 2017, describes a 2 MHz system with needle depth adjustable from 0.5 to 3.5 mm in 0.1 mm increments.

The Secret DUO is the platform used here. It keeps the RF microneedling handpiece and adds a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser, a wavelength absorbed by water that creates columns of heating through intact skin without needles. Two tools on one console means the skin around a scar and the scar itself can be addressed in one visit where that suits the plan.

How Secret RF compares with other RF microneedling

Secret RF belongs to the same category as Potenza, Morpheus8, Virtue RF, Sylfirm X, Genius and Scarlet. The engineering differs: Secret RF files at 2 MHz with 0.1 mm depth steps; Potenza offers monopolar and bipolar modes at 1 and 2 MHz with 0.25 mm steps; Morpheus8 files at 1 MHz with a 4.0 mm maximum; Genius at 460 kHz. The full side-by-side table, taken from each FDA filing, is on RF microneedling devices compared.

How Dr Sin Yong uses the Secret DUO

Planning starts with the tissue plane rather than the machine. Dr Sin Yong decides the depth at which each scar, pore field or area of laxity sits before choosing a cartridge, a depth or an energy level. Insulated needles, which release energy only at the tip, are generally his choice in Fitzpatrick IV to VI skin, where surface heat raises the risk of darkening. Non-insulated needles, which heat along the shaft, are used for broad, shallow textural work.

Depth and energy are set zone by zone: deeper over the cheeks and jaw, conservative around the eyes and over bone. The I-STACK function, which the manufacturer describes as delivering up to ten sub-pulses at each needle position, lets him layer heat at more than one level without extra insertions where the scar or laxity spans more than one depth. The 1540 nm laser is added where the surrounding texture needs it.

Secret RF is staged, not used alone. Tethered rolling scars are released by subcision first, because heating the dermis from above does not cut the band holding the scar down. Deep ice-pick scars are approached with TCA CROSS. RF microneedling then works on the surface that remains. On the body, the Secret DUO is one part of the 4K Body Lift, his body-sculpting protocol.

“I choose the needle before I choose the energy. In darker Asian skin, keeping heat off the surface is most of the safety of RF microneedling.”

Dr Sin YongOn needle choice in Fitzpatrick IV to VI skin

What Secret RF is used for, and what it is not

• Atrophic acne scars: rolling and shallow boxcar scars, usually after subcision or TCA CROSS where those are needed. See acne scar treatment.
• Enlarged pores and uneven texture: remodelling the collagen around a pore can make it look tighter; nothing shrinks a pore.
• Early laxity: dermal tightening in the lower face and neck where sagging is mild.
• Not for: pigment such as melasma, true deep sagging that needs lifting, or a tethered scar on its own.

Evidence for the technique is strongest in atrophic acne scarring. In active acne, a split-face randomised trial in 25 Korean patients found greater improvement with microneedle fractional RF than with a 1450 nm diode laser at 12 weeks, and post-inflammatory darkening only on the laser side (Kwon, JEADV 2018); the device is identified as Secret RF in a later systematic review rather than in the abstract. In Chinese patients of Fitzpatrick III to IV skin, a study of 40 people with atrophic acne scars also reported improvement with fractional microneedle RF (Huang, J Cosmet Dermatol 2023). Small numbers and short follow-up are the norm in this field.

What a Secret RF session involves

A consultation and examination come first, including your skin type, scar types, medicines and any recent isotretinoin. Numbing cream is applied. The doctor treats zone by zone, adjusting depth and energy as the face changes from cheek to temple to jaw. Redness, swelling and pinpoint marks are expected and settle over days; the risks that settings and skin type decide include grid-pattern marks, prolonged darkening and, uncommonly, burns. You will be told how to care for the skin and what to call about. Fees follow the plan and are explained in writing at consultation; this site does not publish fees, and how fees are quoted sets out what a quote covers.

Who should wait or choose something else

Active infection or inflamed acne in the area, pregnancy, a pacemaker or other implanted electronic device, metal or gold-thread implants in the area, a keloid tendency, a bleeding tendency and recent oral isotretinoin all call for waiting or a different plan. A history of post-inflammatory pigmentation does not rule treatment out, but it changes the needle choice, settings and preparation.