Surgery – Instruments – Light application
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-15
2001-05-08
Peffley, Michael (Department: 3739)
Surgery
Instruments
Light application
C606S002000, C607S088000, C607S090000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06228074
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to a painless method and device for causing temporary and/or permanent cessation of hair growth using flashlamps. Unwanted hair is an extremely common problem which can be caused by many reasons. There are many products and methods for temporarily and permanently removing hair. The methods can be very temporary such as in waxing, shaving, plucking and depilatory creams. These methods, however temporary, are very popular due to cost, quickness and/or absence of pain involved in the procedure. Electrolysis has been proven to be extremely slow and painful but is popular because of the claimed permanency and economical cost. Laser methods such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,907 which uses a light absorbing cream in contact with the hair to create heat and destroy the hair have been shown to be painful and mostly temporary. Other laser treatments such as those stated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,568 use laser generated optical pulses directed through a transparent contact device which are absorbed by melanin in the hair follicle which consequently heats the hair follicle and permanently removes it. This method is effective but can be very painful since the high temperature necessary to destroy the hair follicle also destroys some surrounding tissue and skin which can result in hyper-pigmentation, blistering and possible scarring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One embodiment of this invention sets forth a method to cause cessation of hair growth of multiple hair follicles from a selected area of the skin in an efficient and painless manner. The method consists of delivering a specific pattern of non-laser generated multiple light wavelengths which pass through the skin and into the hair and its components. The absorption of these various wavelengths results in thermal and photochemical damage to the hair and its components during the hair's Anagen phase which causes the primary effect of cessation of hair growth. While some treated areas will regenerate some regrowth, additional treatments will alleviate this residual hair growth. The multiple wavelengths that are utilized in this treatment occur at different intensities throughout the wavelength spectrum of 610 nm to 100 nm to produce a pattern that achieves optimal depth penetration. The multiple wavelength spectrum is produced by four flashlamps consisting of a specific mixture of krypton and xenon gas encased by a cerium doped synthetically fused quartz envelope. The four flashlamps are connected to separate user intensity controlled power supplies which is specifically designed to produce an 18 ms pulse duration with a specific pulse discharge pattern to accommodate different size hair follicles. Electrical supply energies of 160-400 joules are input to the flashlamps per cm2 of output. Each flashlamp can be fired simultaneously with an overlap or with a time duration of up to 40 ms between each pulse. The four flashlamps form a pulse train of four individual pulses which results in a treatment shot. Each treatment shot is separated by a 3 second interval to allow the user to move the delivery system to another area of the body for subsequent treatment. The pulse length and characteristic shape of each individual pulse is designed to distribute the energy over a time frame that virtually eliminates damage to the skin which can occur in prior methods. This method also allows the adjustment of intensity of the light source and delay between each individual pulse allowing the user to adjust to different skin and hair types.
The flashlamps utilized in the present invention are housed in a copper/zinc head which is connected to a hollow internally reflective rectangular light guide by means of a 610 nm high pass filter. The rim of the light guide is pressed against the skin so as to form an optical seal. The non-collimated light consisting of wavelengths greater than 610 nm passes through the 610 nm high pass filter and reflects at infinite angles down the hollow light guide into the skin area reaching the hair and its components.
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Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer
Farah Ahmed
Peffley Michael
Serio John C.
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