Holographic tattoo

• US 20070032846A1
• Filed: 08/05/2005
• Published: 02/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Ferren, Bran, Jung, Edward, Myhrvold, Nathan, Wood, Lowell, Ishikawa, Muriel, Wood, Victoria
• Application Number:
  US11/198,910
• Publication Number:
  US 20070032846A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/89
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/203 applying laser energy to the outside of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00452 Skin
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/20351 Scanning mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/20355 Special scanning path or conditions, e.g. spiral, raster or providing spot overlap
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/208 with multiple treatment beams not sharing a common path, e.g. non-axial or parallel
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0436 Shielding
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/049 against light, e.g. laser
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 37/0076 Tattooing apparatus apparatus for marking animals A01K11/00; vaccine applicators having needles or other puncturing means A61B17/205
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/0616 Skin treatment other than tanning
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/062 Photodynamic therapy, i.e. excitation of an agent
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0005 Adaptation of holography to specific applications holographic optical element G02B5/32; holographic scanner G02B26/106; recognition using holographic mask G06V10/88; holographic memories G11B7/0065, G11C13/042
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0248 Volume holograms
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0272 Substrate bearing the hologram
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0891 Processes or apparatus adapted to convert digital holographic data into a hologram G03H1/2294 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2001/0055 in advertising or decorative art
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2001/0264 Organic recording material
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2001/0484 Arranged to produce three-dimensional fringe pattern
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2240/26 Structural variations, e.g. structure variations due to photoanchoring or conformation variations due to photo-isomerisation
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2260/52 Photochromic reactivity wherein light induces a reversible transformation between two states having different absorption spectra
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2270/10 Composition
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2270/31 : Flexible
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 23/00 : Models for scientific, medical, or mathematical purposes, e.g. full-sized devices for demonstration purposes in the nature of toys A63H

Abstract

Methods and systems for treating skin for aesthetic, functional, health or other purposes are described. According to various embodiments, materials are delivered to or formed in or on the skin at multiple depths or heights in a pattern to form a hologram in or on the skin.

Claims

1. A method of forming a holographic tattoo, comprising:

a) forming a first distribution of a first light modulating material in a first plurality of locations in a first level of the skin of a subject; and

b) forming a second distribution of a second light modulating material in a second plurality of locations in a second level of said skin;

wherein said first plurality of locations and said second plurality of locations are selected such that said first and second distributions of light modulating materials form a hologram within said skin.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said first distribution of first light modulating material and said second distribution of second light modulating material reflect light to form an interference pattern corresponding to a desired image represented in the holographic tattoo.

12. The method of claim 1, including injecting said light modulating material or a precursor thereof under microprocessor control.

13. The method of claim 12, selecting said first plurality of locations and said second plurality of locations based upon a predefined tattoo pattern stored in computer readable form.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said first light modulating material and said second light modulating material are the same material.

16. The method of claim 1, including forming a distribution of one or more light modulating materials at a plurality of levels of the skin of the subject.

20. The method of claim 1, including delivering said first light modulating material to said first plurality of locations and delivering said second light modulating material to said second plurality of locations by delivering one or more photoreactive materials to a region including said first plurality of locations and said second plurality of locations, and delivering light selectively to said first plurality of locations to cause at least one of said one or more photoreactive materials to react to form said first light modulating material and delivering light selectively to said second plurality of locations to cause at least one of said one or more photoreactive materials to react to form said second light modulating material.

21. The method of claim 20 including delivering said targeted light to one or more of said first plurality of locations and said second plurality of locations with a focused laser beam.

22. The method of claim 1, including forming said first distribution of said first light modulating material by:

a) positioning an injection device at a location proximate to a skin surface of a subject, the location determined from a tattoo pattern specifying said first plurality of locations;

b) according to said pattern, injecting said first light modulating material or a precursor thereof into said first level of said skin;

c) positioning an injection device at a new location selected from said first plurality of locations specified by said tattoo pattern; and

d) repeating steps a) through c) until said first light modulating material or precursor thereof has been injected into the skin of said subject at all of said first plurality of locations specified by said tattoo pattern.

23. The method of claim 22, including forming said second distribution of said second light modulating material by:

a) positioning an injection device at a location on proximate to a skin surface of a subject, the location determined from a tattoo pattern specifying said second plurality of locations;

b) according to said pattern, injecting said second light modulating material or a precursor thereof into said first level of said skin;

c) positioning an injection device at a new location selected from said second plurality of locations specified by said tattoo pattern; and

d) repeating steps a) through c) until said second light modulating material or precursor thereof has been injected into the skin of said subject at all of said second plurality of locations specified by said tattoo pattern;

54. The method of claim 1, including forming one or more of said first distribution and said second distribution with a light modulating material including a pigment, a dye, a photochromic material, a fluorescent material, a phosphorescent material, a reflective material, a refractive material, a polarizing material, a scattering material, a retroreflector or a corner-cube reflector.

55. The method of claim 1, including injecting said light modulating material or a precursor thereof with one or more tattoo needles or high pressure jets.

56. The method of claim 22, including using a plurality of injection devices at said first plurality of locations, the plurality of injection devices including an array of injection devices including at least one tattoo needle or high pressure jet.

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8. The method of claim 7, wherein said corner-cube reflector is conditioned to reflect at least one selected wavelength of light.

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31. A method of forming a holographic tattoo comprising:

a) delivering a photoreactive material into a skin region of a subject, said skin region containing a target volume having a length, width, and depth; and

b) delivering targeted light to a plurality of locations within said target volume, said targeted light sufficient to cause reaction of said photoreactive material to produce a light modulating material within said target volume at each of said plurality of locations, said plurality of locations selected so that said light modulating material at said plurality of locations is capable of forming a holographic image when exposed to light of at least one selected wavelength and the resulting scattered light is interfered with a reference beam of at least one selected wavelength.

38. The method of claim 31, including delivering said targeted light to each of said plurality of locations with a focused light beam.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein said light modulating material comprises a pigment, dye, photochromic material, light-scattering material, polarizing material, phosphorescent material or fluorescent material.

57. The method of claim 31, including delivering the photoreactive material to the subject systemically, topically, or via an injection.

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40. A method of forming a tattoo design, comprising:

a) detecting at least one light interference pattern from an object to be depicted in a tattoo;

b) determining a volume representation of said light interference pattern for a volume corresponding to the area and thickness of a skin region capable of receiving said tattoo; and

c) storing said volume representation in digital format.

41. The method of claim 40, including detecting at least one light interference pattern from a three-dimensional object.

44. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

a) retrieving said volume representation from said digital format; and

b) generating a control signal for driving delivery of one or more light modulating materials to a skin region according to said retrieved representation.

58. The method of claim 40, wherein said light interference pattern is formed by at least one of illuminating the object with a single wavelength of light and interacting the scattered light with a reference beam of the same single wavelength, or illuminating the object with light containing multiple wavelengths of light, wherein said interference pattern comprises multiple interference patterns each corresponding to a single wavelength of light.

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45. A tattoo design comprising:

a volume representation of a light interference pattern produced by interference of light reflected from an object comprising the subject matter of the tattoo and a reference light, the volume representation corresponding to an area and depth of a skin region capable of receiving a tattoo.

48. The tattoo design of claim 45, wherein said representation is stored in a digital format.

49. The tattoo design of claim 45, wherein said representation is stored on a signal-bearing medium.

59. The tattoo design of claim 45, wherein said representation comprises two or more layers.

60. The tattoo design of claim 49, wherein said signal-bearing medium includes at least one of random access memory, read-only memory, flash memory, CD-ROM, DVD, optical disk, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, a wired communication medium, an acoustic communication medium, a radio-frequency communication medium, an optical communication medium, or an infra-red communication medium.

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