SELF-CONTAINED, EYE-SAFE HAIR-REGROWTH-INHIBITION APPARATUS AND METHOD
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dermatologic hair-regrowth-inhibiting apparatus is disclosed which is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held. A self-contained housing is configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure. A light source and electrical circuit are contained within the housing. The circuit includes one or more batteries for energizing the light source to produce output light pulses. A light path within the housing includes an aperture through which eye-safe light pulses are propagated out of the housing having properties sufficient for at least temporary hair-regrowth inhibition. A diffuser is disposed along the light path to reduce the integrated radiance to an eye-safe level.
147 Citations
147 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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27-35. -35. (canceled)
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43-56. -56. (canceled)
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60. (canceled)
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63-73. -73. (canceled)
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78-89. -89. (canceled)
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92-116. -116. (canceled)
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117. A hair-regrowth-inhibiting method for inhibiting hair regrowth, comprising:
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(a) gripping in a person'"'"'s hand a self-contained housing assembly of a hair-regrowth-inhibiting device;
(b) positioning the housing assembly such that an output window component of the device is proximate to a target area of skin of a same or different person;
(c) energizing a light source with an electrical circuit to produce output light in the range of 4-100 J/cm2 and having sufficient fluence at the output aperture to effect at least temporary hair removal at the target area;
(d) transmitting the output light as one or more pulses of duration t generated by the light source along a light path within the housing including an aperture through which eye-safe light pulses are propagated from the housing assembly having properties sufficient for at least temporarily inhibiting hair regrowth;
(e) diffusing the output light pulses along the light path so that an integrated radiance of the output light pulses in Jcm−
2 sr−
1 is less than 10 t1/3 when the wavelength of the light is 600 to 700 nm, less than 10*10(λ
−
700)/515t1/3 when the wavelength λ
of the light is 700 to 1060 nm, and less than 50 t1/3 when the wavelength of the light is 1060 to 1200 nm where t is less than 10 seconds; and
(f) manipulating the hand-held, dermatologic device in a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure. - View Dependent Claims (118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 144, 145)
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132. (canceled)
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141. (canceled)
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146. A dermatologic apparatus comprising
a housing configured to be held in a person'"'"'s hand for performing a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure, the housing having a volume of no more than 1500 cm3 and having an output aperture, a light source within the housing for providing, through the output aperture, light in the range of 4-100 J/cm2 at a target area of human skin comprising at least one pulse and having sufficient fluence to effect hair removal at the target area, an electrical circuit for energizing the light source to produce output light pulses of duration t, and an optical diffuser within the housing and disposed along the light path for diffusing the light so that light emitted from the output aperture has an integrated radiance in Jcm− - 2sr−
1 less than 10 t1/3 when the wavelength of the light is 600 to 700 nm, less than 10*10(λ
−
700)/515t1/3 when the wavelength λ
of the light is 700 to 1060 nm, and less than 50 t1/3 when the wavelength of the light is 1060 to 1200 nm where t is less than 10 seconds. - 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, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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147. A dermatologic apparatus comprising
a self-contained housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure, a light source comprising a plurality of laser diodes within the housing for providing light in the range of 4-100 J/cm2 and having sufficient fluence at a target area of human skin to effect hair removal at a target area of human skin, an electrical circuit for energizing the light source to produce output light pulses of duration t, and a light path within the housing including an output aperture through which eye-safe light pulses are propagated out of the housing, the light pulses emitted from the output aperture having an integrated radiance in Jcm− - 2sr−
1 less than 10 t1/3 when the wavelength of the light is 600 to 700 nm, less than 10*10(λ
−
700)/515t1/3 when the wavelength λ
of the light is 700 to 1060 nm, and less than 50 t1/3 when the wavelength of the light is 1060 to 1200 nm where t is less than 10 seconds. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 74, 75, 76, 77, 90, 91)
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Specification