How PureLift Devices Are Designed, and What We Will Not Claim
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
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Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
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Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
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Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
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Four decisions shape every device we make: publish the numbers, put the bands on one dial, vary the frequency, and take no proprietary refill.
This article covers what actually decides the answer, such as:
- One, publish the numbers
- Two, put the bands on one dial
- Three, vary the frequency
- Four, no proprietary refill
- What we will not claim
and many more!
There is also a list at the end of claims we have decided not to make, which is the part of a philosophy page that usually goes missing.
Key Points:
Every output figure is published with the impedance it was measured at.
Nanocurrent, microcurrent and EMS sit on one ten-level dial rather than in three products.
PDM cycles 361 frequency points between 1,370 and 1,730 Hz instead of holding one.
Any water-based serum works, so there is no refill to buy.
Made in Japan in an ISO 13485 facility by a company making facial stimulation devices since 1987.
One, publish the numbers
Face and Pro deliver 7 mA at 500 ohms with a 4 microsecond pulse width. Pro Edition reaches 7.7 mA, Pro Plus and GLOW 9 mA. Clearances are K190269 for Face, K230506 for Pro and Pro Edition, K221443 for Pro Plus and K243587 for GLOW.
The impedance matters as much as the milliamps, because current depends on the resistance it meets and a bare figure cannot be compared against anything.
The cost of publishing is that our numbers can be compared unfavourably by anyone who quotes a larger figure without stating a load. We would rather be checkable than flattering.
Two, put the bands on one dial
Levels 1 and 2 are nanocurrent and microcurrent. Level 3 is where the motor threshold is crossed, and levels 3 to 10 are EMS. Ward's work sets out the three thresholds that make those distinct territories (PMID 19095805).
The alternative is selling a microcurrent device and an EMS device separately, which is more profitable and asks the buyer to commit to a band before they know which one suits them.
The cost is a device that is more confusing on a shelf than a single-purpose one, and a page like this needed to explain it.
Three, vary the frequency
PDM cycles through 361 points between 1,370 and 1,730 Hz rather than holding one, because a nerve given an identical signal repeatedly responds less over time.
Downey and colleagues found frequency variation extended a defined endpoint against constant frequency in a neuromuscular protocol (PMID 21996798). Papaiordanidou and colleagues report a case where it did not (10.1371/journal.pone.0084740), and we cite both because the second one exists.
Pro Plus and GLOW add PDM++, a bipolar pulse that builds and releases charge gradually so the same power lands more smoothly.
Four, no proprietary refill
Any water-based serum conducts, so the devices work with what you already own.
Several competing devices are designed around their own gel, at $29.99 to $130 a bottle, which is a recurring revenue stream and a recurring cost to the owner.
We sell an Activator Serum and you do not have to buy it, which is a worse business decision and a better product one.
What we will not claim
That any study tested a PureLift device. The research we cite is category evidence under defined protocols, and we say so on every page that cites it.
That the device replaces lost volume. Fat compartments empty with age and no current creates fat; that is a clinician's question.
That it thickens the dermis or tightens skin the way heat-based treatments aim to, since electrical stimulation does not heat tissue.
That it repositions the SMAS, which is what a surgical facelift does.
That accommodation is prevented rather than delayed.
That a result arrives in weeks. Kavanagh and colleagues ran 12 weeks and measured an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness (10.1111/jocd.12007), and twelve weeks is the honest horizon.
And that a facial device is right for everyone. In your twenties it usually is not, for a volume problem it is the wrong tool, and if what you want is drainage alone your hands do that for nothing.
Where the devices are made
Japan, in an ISO 13485 facility, by a company that has made facial stimulation devices and nothing else since 1987.
That is manufacturing context rather than evidence of an outcome, and it should be read as a statement about consistency rather than about results.
How to hold us to this
Ask us for the four numbers: maximum output, the impedance, the pulse width, and whether the frequency is fixed or varied. Ask any brand.
Read the studies we cite, including the one that disagrees with us.
For the full technology breakdown, see how the nine PureLift technologies work, and for judging claims generally, how to read a facial device study.