Secret RF Singapore: Secret RF Microneedling Explained

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

Medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong · Last reviewed 30 October 2026

Published 9 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong

Illustrative model with clear skin texture across the cheek in soft light, not a patient

Secret RF is a fractional microneedle radiofrequency system made by ILOODA in Korea. Its current platform, the Secret DUO, adds a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser to the same console. Dr Sin Yong performs RF microneedling personally on the Secret DUO on Orchard Road, and is a global Key Opinion Leader for the Secret RF platform.

Short answerSecret RF in Singapore is fractional microneedle radiofrequency. The handpiece places microneedles 0.5 to 3.5 mm into the skin, adjustable in 0.1 mm steps, and releases bipolar radiofrequency at 2 MHz, according to its FDA 510(k) summary. The Secret DUO, which lists gold-plated cartridges, adds a 1540 nm fractional laser. It is used here for atrophic acne scars, enlarged pores, uneven texture and early laxity, after the scar type and skin type have been assessed.

Key facts

Maker: ILOODA Co., Ltd., Korea (US partner: Cutera)
Energy: Bipolar radiofrequency, 2 MHz (FDA 510(k) K170325)
Needle depth: 0.5–3.5 mm in 0.1 mm steps
Tips: 25- and 64-pin; Secret DUO also lists 25PIN-S, 1PIN and 4PIN gold-plated cartridges
Secret DUO adds: A 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser and I-STACK sub-pulsing
Used for here: Atrophic acne scars, pores, texture, early laxity; body work within the 4K Body Lift
Performed by: Dr Sin Yong personally, a global Key Opinion Leader for the Secret RF platform

Disclosure. Dr Sin Yong is a global Key Opinion Leader for ILOODA’s Secret RF platform and has been invited by the manufacturer to share his clinical expertise with doctors internationally. This page describes the device from its regulatory filings and published studies; it does not claim that Secret RF outperforms other devices.

In this guide

What is Secret RF?
How Secret RF compares with other RF microneedling
How Dr Sin Yong uses the Secret DUO
What Secret RF is used for, and what it is not
What a Secret RF session involves
Who should wait or choose something else
Frequently Asked Questions
Related
Speak With Dr Sin Yong

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.

Close view of an illustrative model's cheek skin texture in soft light, not a patient — Secret RF heats the dermis at a chosen depth; the surface is spared when insulated needles are chosen.

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.

Secret RF’s filed depth range beside other RF microneedling devices. Skin layer bands are approximate.

Secret RF, Secret DUO and body use: what each adds

The table separates three things often run together under one name: the Secret RF microneedling handpiece, the Secret DUO platform that houses it alongside a 1540 nm fractional laser, and the use of that platform on the body within the 4K Body Lift. Device facts are from the FDA 510(k) summaries in this page’s references; the devices compared page sets Secret RF beside other systems.

	Secret RF handpiece	Secret DUO platform	Body use within the 4K Body Lift
What it is	Fractional microneedle radiofrequency: fine needles fired to a set depth, with bipolar RF at 2 MHz between them (K170325)	The current console: the Secret RF handpiece plus a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser, with I-STACK sub-pulsing (K202043)	Dr Sin Yong’s body-sculpting protocol on the Secret DUO, directed at compact, resistant fat and the skin over it; see the 4K Body Lift
Depth and tips	0.5 to 3.5 mm in 0.1 mm steps; 25- and 64-pin tips; insulated or non-insulated needles	Adds 25PIN-S, 1PIN and 4PIN gold-plated cartridges; the laser works through intact skin	Depth and energy set for the fat and skin of the tummy, waist, thighs and arms, not for facial dermis
Where it is used here	Atrophic acne scars after subcision or TCA CROSS, enlarged pores, uneven texture, early laxity of the lower face and neck	The laser pass is added where the skin around a scar needs texture work	Compact, pinchable fat pockets and the skin over them, after assessment
What it cannot do	Divide a tether, reach an ice-pick floor, treat melasma or lift deep sagging	Replace the sequence; subcision and TCA CROSS still come first where needed	Act as liposuction, weight loss or large-volume fat removal, or treat muscle; heavy skin excess needs surgical assessment

A woman in her thirties with dewy skin and hair pulled back (illustrative image, not a patient) — Illustrative image — not a patient.

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.

A woman in her late thirties by a window, hand resting against her cheek, skin even in tone — illustrative image, not a patient — Remodelling is gradual; collagen is laid down over the months after treatment.

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.

What it is not

Not a laser-only device: Secret RF is ILOODA bipolar 2 MHz radiofrequency through microneedles; the Secret DUO adds a 1540 nm laser.

Not Morpheus8, Potenza or Sylfirm X: same category, but Secret RF files at 2 MHz with 0.1 mm depth steps.

Not a ranking claim: Dr Sin Yong is a Secret RF KOL, and the page describes the device from its FDA filings only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Dr Sin Yong performs RF microneedling on the Secret DUO, ILOODA’s current Secret RF platform, on Orchard Road. He is a global Key Opinion Leader for the Secret RF platform.

Secret RF is the RF microneedling system. The Secret DUO keeps that handpiece and adds a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser on the same console, so needle-based RF and a needle-free fractional laser pass can be combined in one plan.

Its FDA 510(k) summary gives a needle depth range of 0.5 to 3.5 mm, adjustable in 0.1 mm steps. Depth is chosen to match the layer where the scar or laxity sits, and kept conservative around the eyes and over bone.

No device is shown to be better overall; head-to-head trials are rare. They differ in frequency, depth steps and tips. This site compares them from their FDA filings on the RF microneedling devices compared page.

RF microneedling is widely used in Fitzpatrick III to V skin because heat is delivered beneath the surface. Insulated needles are generally chosen for Fitzpatrick IV to VI skin to spare the surface. Darkening can still occur and is watched for afterwards.

That depends on the scar type, depth and skin, and is set out after examination. This site does not publish session counts, because they vary between people.

Numbing cream is applied first. Most people describe heat and pressure that is tolerable; deeper settings and bony areas are more noticeable. Comfort is discussed and settings adjusted during the session.

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