Method and apparatus for discontinuous dermabrasion
First Claim
1. An apparatus for cosmetic resurfacing of a skin tissue, comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of shafts, each of which has a corresponding longitudinal axis and a skin abrading element at a distal end thereof, wherein the skin abrading element is configured to contact a surface of the skin tissue to generate holes in the skin tissue by removing portions of the skin tissue while leaving surrounding tissue healthy;
a shaft drive arrangement configured to rotate each shaft of the plurality of shafts around the corresponding longitudinal axis of each of the plurality of shafts; and
a low-pressure source configured to pull the tissue up toward the skin abrading elements or to facilitate removal of the abraded tissue.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Exemplary embodiments of method and apparatus are provided for resurfacing of skin that includes formation of a plurality of small holes, e.g., having widths less than about 1 mm or 0.5 mm. For example, such small holes can be produced using a mechanical apparatus that includes one or more abrading elements provided at the end of one or more rotating shafts, thus avoiding generation of thermal damage as occurs with conventional laser resurfacing procedures and devices. The holes thus formed can be well-tolerated by the skin, and may exhibit shorter healing times and less swelling than conventional resurfacing procedures. The fractional surface coverage of the holes can be between about 0.1 and 0.7, or between about 0.2 and 0.5. The method and apparatus can produce cosmetic improvements in the skin appearance by eliciting a healing response.
47 Citations
29 Claims
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1. An apparatus for cosmetic resurfacing of a skin tissue, comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of shafts, each of which has a corresponding longitudinal axis and a skin abrading element at a distal end thereof, wherein the skin abrading element is configured to contact a surface of the skin tissue to generate holes in the skin tissue by removing portions of the skin tissue while leaving surrounding tissue healthy; a shaft drive arrangement configured to rotate each shaft of the plurality of shafts around the corresponding longitudinal axis of each of the plurality of shafts; and a low-pressure source configured to pull the tissue up toward the skin abrading elements or to facilitate removal of the abraded tissue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An apparatus for cosmetic resurfacing of a skin tissue, comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of shafts, each of which has a corresponding longitudinal axis and a skin abrading element at a distal end thereof, wherein the skin abrading element is configured to contact a surface of the skin tissue to generate holes in the skin tissue by removing portions of the skin tissue while leaving surrounding tissue healthy; a shaft drive arrangement configured to rotate each shaft of the plurality of shafts around the corresponding longitudinal axis of each of the plurality of shafts; and a shaft reciprocating arrangement configured to translate the shafts in a direction substantially along the longitudinal axis of the shafts, wherein the shaft reciprocating arrangement is configured to control the protrusion distance of the shafts from a lower surface of the housing.
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Specification