Ultrasonic apparatus and method for treating obesity or fat-deposits or for delivering cosmetic or other bodily therapy
First Claim
1. An apparatus for delivering an acoustic or acoustically-aided therapy or treatment to a patient or treatment-subject comprising:
- at least one transduction device or acoustic-energy source;
at least one acoustically excitable shell, plate, membrane or flexural member; and
a means to acoustically couple, directly or indirectly, the excitable shell, plate, membrane or member to a patient or subject anatomy, body-material or body-portion, wherein;
at least one said energy device or source delivers acoustic energy into, onto or from within said shell, plate, membrane or member at at least one location thereby acoustically exciting said shell, plate, membrane or member from at one acoustic mode which is at least partly determined by a property or parameter of the shell, plate, membrane or member;
at least some said excited acoustical energy being fed, directed-from, distributed from, or leaked by said excited shell, plate, membrane or member from at least one location through or along the coupling means toward or into said patient or subject; and
the excited shell, plate, membrane or member acting as a waveguide to at least one of a) spread, redirect or redistribute at least some acoustical energy from one or more such localized acoustical energy devices or sources, b) acting to cause acoustical energy from one or more devices or sources to undergo a modal change such as from compressive to shear or vice versa at least once, c) acting to provide additional vibrational modes or mode-patterns not available from the device or source if it were used by itself, or d) allowing one to treat a large area with one or more smaller devices or sources of lesser total area.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Obesity or fat deposits are treated with ultrasound. In one embodiment, a waveguide-based apparatus and method are disclosed for applying ultrasound to a treatment-subject for the purpose of providing treatment or therapy for obesity, fat-deposits, cosmetic benefit or other bodily therapy tasks. In another embodiment, a novel apparatus and method are disclosed for providing at least one such treatment or therapy using a liquid-based waveguide. In yet another embodiment, a wearable apparatus is disclosed that incorporates a waveguide of the invention. Any of the embodiments has application to hospital use, clinical use or home use, for example, and the place of use will likely be determined by which treatment mechanism is employed and at what power-level.
300 Citations
40 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for delivering an acoustic or acoustically-aided therapy or treatment to a patient or treatment-subject comprising:
-
at least one transduction device or acoustic-energy source;
at least one acoustically excitable shell, plate, membrane or flexural member; and
a means to acoustically couple, directly or indirectly, the excitable shell, plate, membrane or member to a patient or subject anatomy, body-material or body-portion, wherein;
at least one said energy device or source delivers acoustic energy into, onto or from within said shell, plate, membrane or member at at least one location thereby acoustically exciting said shell, plate, membrane or member from at one acoustic mode which is at least partly determined by a property or parameter of the shell, plate, membrane or member;
at least some said excited acoustical energy being fed, directed-from, distributed from, or leaked by said excited shell, plate, membrane or member from at least one location through or along the coupling means toward or into said patient or subject; and
the excited shell, plate, membrane or member acting as a waveguide to at least one of a) spread, redirect or redistribute at least some acoustical energy from one or more such localized acoustical energy devices or sources, b) acting to cause acoustical energy from one or more devices or sources to undergo a modal change such as from compressive to shear or vice versa at least once, c) acting to provide additional vibrational modes or mode-patterns not available from the device or source if it were used by itself, or d) allowing one to treat a large area with one or more smaller devices or sources of lesser total area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An apparatus for delivering an acoustic or acoustically-aided therapy or treatment to a patient or treatment-subject comprising:
-
an emitter of moving liquid droplets or flowable-material droplets;
a means for directing said moving droplets upon a patient treatment region;
the droplets traveling with an average droplet diameter, average velocity and average spacing at least at a moment in time;
the repetitive impact of said droplets upon said patient providing an acoustic excitation related to the droplet arrival frequency and an acoustic power related to the arrival velocity and arrival mass; and
said excitation passing into or along a patient tissue portion needing said therapy or treatment. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
-
-
24. An apparatus for delivering an acoustic or acoustically-aided therapy or treatment to a patient or treatment-subject comprising:
-
an emitter of at least one moving liquid stream;
a means for directing said moving stream or streams upon a patient treatment region;
a means to inject acoustical energy into said stream or streams at the emitter end such that it propagates along said stream or streams toward the patient;
said injection means including or utilizing an acoustic waveguide in any manner;
at least some treatment acoustical energy contained in said moving stream or streams arriving upon or into said patient as a result of said stream or streams arriving; and
streams not necessarily remaining fluidically attached to said stream emitting means the entire time the stream and its contained acoustic energy impact upon the patient. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A wearable treatment or therapy apparatus for provision of an acoustically enabled or acoustically enhanced treatment or therapy to a patient or treatment subject comprising:
-
a) at least one acoustic transduction means or acoustic source;
b) a shell, plate, membrane or member serving at least as an acoustical waveguide; and
c) a means to acoustically couple the apparatus to a patient treatment region, wherein 1) at least one transduction means or acoustic source injects acoustical energy into said waveguide from upon or within said waveguide;
2) said waveguide, in turn, passes at least some of said injected energy into or toward said patient along or through the acoustic coupling means; and
3) said waveguide first distributing, redistributing, redirecting, storing, or causing acoustic mode modification of said at least some of said injected energy before its passage toward or into the coupling means and patient. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. A method for delivering an acoustic or acoustically-aided therapy or treatment to a patient or treatment-subject comprising:
-
providing an apparatus comprising at least one transduction device or acoustic-energy source, at least one acoustically excitable shell, plate, membrane or flexural member which acts as a waveguide, and a means to acoustically couple, directly or indirectly, the excitable shell, plate, membrane or member waveguide to a patient or subject anatomy, body material or body portion;
operating said at least one said transduction device or acoustic-energy source to deliver acoustic energy into, onto or from within said shell, plate, membrane or member waveguide at at least one waveguide location, thereby acoustically exciting said shell, plate, membrane or member waveguide into at least one acoustic mode which is at least partly determined by a property or parameter of the shell, plate, membrane or member waveguide;
at least some of the excited acoustical energy additionally being fed, directed from, distributed from, or leaked by said excited shell, plate, membrane or member waveguide from at least one different or same waveguide location through or along the coupling means toward or into said patient or subject; and
operating the excited shell, plate, membrane or member thereby as a waveguide to at least one of a) spread, redirect or redistribute at least some acoustical energy from one or more such localized acoustical energy devices or sources, b) act to cause acoustical energy from one or more devices or sources to undergo a modal change such as from compressive to shear or vice versa at least once, c) act to provide additional vibrational modes or mode-patterns not available from the device or source if it were used by itself, and d) allow one to treat a large area with one or more smaller devices or sources of lesser total area. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
Specification