Surgery – Instruments – Light application
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-18
2001-01-09
Dvorak, Linda C. M. (Department: 3739)
Surgery
Instruments
Light application
C607S089000, C033S706000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06171302
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus for enabling controlled activation of a device for treatment of tissue by an operator. The invention is particularly useful for controlling the activation of lasers used for skin treatment, and is therefore described below with respect to this application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A variety of medical and cosmetic treatment methods involve exposure of a defined area of tissue to electromagnetic radiation such as light of various wavelength. The light source can be a non-coherent light source such as a suitable lamp or a coherent light source such as a laser.
The application of lasers for therapeutic or cosmetic skin treatment is known in the art. For example laser radiation is used for facial rejuvenation as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application, titled Laser Facial Rejuvenation, Ser. No. 08/382,918 to Slatkine and Mead filed on Feb. 2, 1995. Another example is the use of laser irradiation for hair removal as disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/008,802 to Slatkine, filed Dec. 18, 1995.
A common feature of many cosmetic and therapeutic tissue treatment methods, including laser irradiation of the skin, is the need to achieve a substantially uniform exposure of the surface of the treated tissue.
Another feature of some of these tissue treatment methods is the need to avoid over-exposure of areas of the treated tissue to the treating radiation. This may be particularly important since the treating light beam is often invisible and does not leave any visible mark on the treated area. For example, when a laser is used for depilating defined skin areas, the operator usually positions a laser light source above the surface of the skin and activates the laser to irradiate a certain predetermined skin area, the operator then advances the laser light source to a new position and activates the laser again to irradiate a new skin area. The operator continues in a similar way until all the area to be treated has been irradiated.
Since the depilating beam does not leave any visible mark on the skin, the operator has to memorize or keep track of the already treated area otherwise he might inadvertently irradiate the same skin area repeatedly, thus causing undesirable over-exposure of the skin. Additionally, it can be difficult to manually control the positioning and activation of the laser light source so as to achieve a uniform irradiation of the skin area without leaving non-irradiated areas or causing undesirable over-exposure of skin areas.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for enabling an operator to apply radiation to a surface of tissue in a substantially uniform way and to reduce the risk of over-exposure of the treated tissue by reducing the possibility of repeatedly irradiating the same area of tissue during the same treatment session.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for cooling the irradiated tissue for decreasing the heat load of the irradiated tissue and lowering the maximal temperature to which the irradiated tissue is exposed.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide means for marking the irradiated tissue with a visible mark to inform the operator of the system which areas have been irradiated.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a stop signal to the operator of the system indicating the desired location of manually irradiating the tissue by the operator.
There is therefore provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for synchronizing the activating of a light source with the position of a hand piece on a surface including moving the hand piece along the surface and activating the light source when the hand piece has moved a predetermined distance along the surface.
Yet, in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes the step of providing a stop signal to the operator when the hand piece has moved the predetermined distance along the surface.
Still, in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step of activating includes activating the light source by an operator when the stop signal is detected by the operator, and the stop signal is an audible signal or a visible signal or a combination thereof.
Further, in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step of activating also includes the step of scanning the beam of light onto the surface by a scanner.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes the step of cooling the surface.
There is also provided, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for providing a substantially homogenous exposure of a surface to light, including moving a hand piece along the surface, activating the light source when the hand piece has moved a predetermined distance along the surface and marking the surface with a visible marker indicating the part of the surface exposed to light.
There is also provided, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for providing a substantially homogenous exposure of a surface to light including a light delivery handpiece having two ends, a light source connected to a first end of the light delivery handpiece a sensor attached to a second end of the light delivery handpiece for sensing the distance moved by the second end along the surface, and a signal processing unit connected to the sensor and the light source for decoding the output of the sensor and for activating the light source when the second end moves a predetermined distance along the surface.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing unit also provides a stop signal to an operator when the second end has moved a predetermined distance along the surface.
Further, in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing unit activates the light source when the second end has moved a predetermined distance along the surface, only when manually activated by the operator.
Still further, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system includes a marking device for marking the surface with a visible marker indicating the part of the surface which has been exposed to light.
yet further, in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system includes a device for cooling the surface.
Still further, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system includes a beam delivery system connecting the first end of the light delivery handpiece to the light source.
additionally, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the beam delivery system is an articulated arm or an optical fiber or an optical fiber bundle or a hollow waveguide.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined distance is determined by the size and energy distribution profile of the spot of light produced by the light source on the surface to provide a substantially uniform exposure of part of the surface to light from the light source.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the surface is the surface of a tissue.
In accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light source is a pulsed laser. In accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light source is a continuous wave laser.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light source is an incoherent light source.
There is therefore also provided, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a handpiece including a hollow member
Abraham Martin
Hay Nissim
Rozenberg Ytzhak
Talpalriu Gerard
Zobel Izhak
Dvorak Linda C. M.
Eitan Pearl Latzer & Cohen-Zedek
Gibson Roy
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