Monitoring Method and Apparatus for Fractional Photo-Therapy Treatment
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring fractional photo-therapy treatment, the fractional phototherapy treatment including delivery of treatment radiation in a pattern of treatment zones to an area of tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
- irradiating the area of tissue being treated with electro-magnetic radiation thereby stimulating emission of fluorescence radiation from one or more fluorophores in the area of tissue being treated;
recording one or more images of the area of tissue using the fluorescence radiation emitted from at least one of said fluorophores, said images having a spatial distribution of fluorescence depending on structural features of the area of tissue combined with features characteristic of the pattern of treatment-radiation delivery; and
electronically processing said one or more images to identify the fluorescence radiation in said one or more images resulting from the delivery of the treatment radiation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring method for tissue treatment by fractional photo-therapy includes recording a fluorescence image of an area of tissue being treated and electronically processing the image to provide a measure of either progress of the treatment or an applied treatment radiation dose. Fluorescence is generated by irradiating the tissue with ultraviolet (UV) or blue radiation to stimulate fluorescence of one or more chromophores in the tissue. The monitoring method may be applied to control a treatment light source in phototherapy apparatus. In one example of phototherapy apparatus, a handpiece for delivering treatment light to the tissue includes a source of the UV radiation and a CCD camera for recording the fluorescence image.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring fractional photo-therapy treatment, the fractional phototherapy treatment including delivery of treatment radiation in a pattern of treatment zones to an area of tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
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irradiating the area of tissue being treated with electro-magnetic radiation thereby stimulating emission of fluorescence radiation from one or more fluorophores in the area of tissue being treated;
recording one or more images of the area of tissue using the fluorescence radiation emitted from at least one of said fluorophores, said images having a spatial distribution of fluorescence depending on structural features of the area of tissue combined with features characteristic of the pattern of treatment-radiation delivery; and
electronically processing said one or more images to identify the fluorescence radiation in said one or more images resulting from the delivery of the treatment radiation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of monitoring fractional photo-therapy treatment, the fractional phototherapy treatment including delivery of treatment radiation in a regular pattern of spaced-apart zones to an area of tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
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irradiating the area of tissue with electro-magnetic radiation thereby stimulating emission of fluorescence radiation from reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD-H) in the area of tissue, the amount of NAD-H in the tissue in and around zones thereof to which treatment radiation is delivered being dependent on the amount of radiation delivered to the zones;
recording a first image of the area of tissue in a wavelength range characteristic of NAD-H fluorescence radiation, said first image having a spatial distribution of fluorescence including background features dependent on structural features of the area of tissue combined with regularly distributed features characteristic of the pattern of treatment-radiation delivery; and
electronically processing said first image to separate said regularly distributed features of said image from said background features and thereby provide a measure of the fluorescence in said image resulting from delivery of the treatment radiation to the area of tissue. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Apparatus for photo-thermal treatment of tissue, comprising:
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a source of treatment radiation;
an arrangement for delivering treatment radiation from said treatment radiation source to an area of tissue being treated;
a source of fluorescence-stimulating radiation, said fluorescence-stimulating radiation having a range of wavelengths selected to stimulate fluorescence from one or more fluorophores in the area of tissue being treated;
a camera for recording one or more images of the area of tissue being treated at a wavelength of the stimulated fluorescence;
electronic circuitry, cooperative with said treatment-radiation source and said camera; and
wherein said electronic circuitry is arranged to analyze said one or more recorded images and determine from said analysis the progress of the photo-thermal treatment in said area of skin being treated, and arranged to control said treatment-radiation source responsive to said determination. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification