APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ABLATION-RELATED DERMATOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF SELECTED TARGETS
First Claim
1. A method of dermatological treatment comprising the steps ofablating epidermal and dermal tissue, in a dermatological treatment, to form discrete holes in a selected region of skin, the ablation step resulting in both ablated tissue and remaining tissue that was not ablated within the selected region;
- evaluating, with a sensing element, at least a portion of tissue from the selected region in connection with the ablating step for a selected tissue target;
detecting, in response to the evaluation, the selected tissue target in tissue surrounding a base of at least one of the discrete holes;
gathering, in response to the detection, at least one energy-delivery parameter of an electromagnetic source to begin emission of nonablative electromagnetic energy; and
applying at least one pulse of the nonablative electromagnetic energy into an inside of the hole at which the selected tissue target was detected for treating the selected tissue target with the nonablative electromagnetic energy.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention describes a treatment for skin containing selected targets that provides feedback in response to a measurement enabled by the ablation of holes. The inventive apparatus includes an electromagnetic source configured to emit ablative electromagnetic energy, a delivery system, a sensing element, and a controller. The delivery system can be configured to receive ablative energy from the electromagnetic source and deliver it to multiple discrete locations at the selected region to form a pattern of discrete holes in epidermal and dermal tissue of the skin. The lipid content a portion of the tissue can be evaluated using a sensing element. At least one pulse of electromagnetic energy is delivered to the skin under control of a controller in response to the result of a measurement by the sensing element. The apparatus may include a positional sensor to provide additional dosage control, particularly when the inventive method is used with a continuously movable handpiece.
125 Citations
70 Claims
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1. A method of dermatological treatment comprising the steps of
ablating epidermal and dermal tissue, in a dermatological treatment, to form discrete holes in a selected region of skin, the ablation step resulting in both ablated tissue and remaining tissue that was not ablated within the selected region; -
evaluating, with a sensing element, at least a portion of tissue from the selected region in connection with the ablating step for a selected tissue target; detecting, in response to the evaluation, the selected tissue target in tissue surrounding a base of at least one of the discrete holes; gathering, in response to the detection, at least one energy-delivery parameter of an electromagnetic source to begin emission of nonablative electromagnetic energy; and applying at least one pulse of the nonablative electromagnetic energy into an inside of the hole at which the selected tissue target was detected for treating the selected tissue target with the nonablative electromagnetic energy. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 6, 11, 22, 24, 26, 29, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42)
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2. (canceled)
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5. (canceled)
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7-10. -10. (canceled)
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12-21. -21. (canceled)
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30-31. -31. (canceled)
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43. An apparatus for dermatological treatment comprising:
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an electromagnetic source configured to emit ablative and nonablative electromagnetic energy; a delivery system configured to deliver the ablative electromagnetic energy to multiple discrete locations at a selected region of skin to form a pattern of discrete holes in the selected region including both ablated tissue and remaining tissue that was not ablated within the selected region; a sensing element configured to evaluate at least a portion of the tissue from the selected region for a selected tissue target and detect the selected tissue target in tissue surrounding a base of at least one of the discrete holes; a controller configured to, in response to detection data received from the sensing element, alter at least one energy-delivery parameter of the electromagnetic source to begin emission of nonablative electromagnetic energy; and the delivery system further configured to apply at least one pulse of the nonablative electromagnetic energy into an inside of the hole at which the selected tissue target was detected for treating the selected tissue target with the nonablative electromagnetic energy. - View Dependent Claims (44, 46, 47, 54, 56, 61, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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45. (canceled)
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48-53. -53. (canceled)
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57-60. -60. (canceled)
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62-63. -63. (canceled)
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70-71. -71. (canceled)
Specification