DEVICES AND METHODS FOR ADIPOSE TISSUE REDUCTION AND SKIN CONTOUR IRREGULARITY SMOOTHING

• US 20110144490A1
• Filed: 12/10/2009
• Published: 06/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Fan, Ying, Davis, Cynthia Elizabeth Landberg
• Application Number:
  US12/634,749
• Publication Number:
  US 20110144490A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/439
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/378 using ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0858 involving measuring tissue layers, e.g. skin, interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0008 Destruction of fat cells
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0039 using microbubbles
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0073 using multiple frequencies
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0078 with multiple treatment transducers
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/02 Localised ultrasound hyperthermia hyperthermia in general A61F7/00

Abstract

In one embodiment, an ultrasound device disposed in a housing is provided. The ultrasound device comprises a first transducer for imaging a region of interest, and a second transducer that generates one or more ultrasound frequencies for cavitating fat cells in the region of interest, and one or more frequencies for thermally treating connective tissues in the region of interest.

Claims

1. An ultrasound device disposed in a housing, comprising:

a first transducer for imaging a region of interest; and

a second transducer that generates one or more ultrasound frequencies for cavitating fat cells in the region of interest, and one or more frequencies for thermally treating connective tissues in the region of interest.

2. The ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the cavitating frequency is in a range from about 100 KHz to about 3 MHz.

3. The ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the thermal treating frequency is in a range from about 1 MHz to about 30 MHz.

4. The ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the second transducer operates at a frequency in a range from about 0.75 MHz to about 1.25 MHz.

5. The ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the second transducer switches between a pulsed mode and a continuous-wave mode.

6. The ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the second transducer generates high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).

7. The ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the first transducer operates at least in part as a receiver.

8. An ultrasound device, comprising:

a first transducer for imaging a region of interest;

a second transducer that generates one or more ultrasound frequencies for cavitating adipose cells in the region of interest; and

a third transducer that generates one or more frequencies for thermally treating connective tissues in the region of interest.

9. The ultrasound device of claim 8, wherein at least one of the second and third transducers generates high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).

10. The ultrasound device of claim 8, wherein the second transducer operates at a frequency in a range from about 100 KHz to about 3 MHz.

11. The ultrasound device of claim 8, wherein the third transducer operates at a frequency in a range from about 1 MHz to about 30 MHz.

12. A system for cavitating adipose tissue and treating adipose and connective tissues in a region of interest, that allows a user to simultaneously or sequentially cavitate and treat various tissues in a region of interest, comprising:

a transducer housing, comprising;

a first transducer for imaging an area in a region of interest to determine parameters pertaining to the adipose tissue and the non-adipose tissues;

a second transducer that generates one or more ultrasound frequencies for cavitating adipose tissues in the region of interest, and one or more frequencies for thermally treating adipose and connective tissues in the region of interest;

a thermal treatment component for providing a thermal treatment to at least a portion of adipose and connective tissues in the region of interest; and

a controller that enables the user to selectively control the first and second transducers and the thermal treatment component.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the thermal treatment component comprises a laser source, a radio frequency (RF) source, an ultrasound transducer, infra red source, microwave source, or combinations thereof.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the second transducer is configured to function/act as a thermal treatment component.

15. A non-invasive method for substantially contemporaneously providing an ultrasound based cavitation treatment and an ultrasound based thermal treatment in a region of interest, comprising:

imaging at least a portion of the region of interest to collect one or more parameters relating to one or more of, adipose tissue, non-adipose tissue, and skin;

cavitating at least a portion of the adipose tissues in the region of interest; and

thermally treating at least a portion of the adipose and connective tissue in the region of interest.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising imaging the region of interest after cavitating the portion of the adipose tissue to determine an amount of cavitated adipose tissue.

17. The method of claim 15, comprising cavitating and thermally treating using two or more ultrasound transducers disposed in a single housing.

18. The method of claim 15, comprising altering a parameter of the ultrasound probe to switch between the step of cavitating and thermally treating.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the transducer switches between the step of cavitating and thermally treating by altering a parameter comprising a duty cycle, speed, time of treatment, frequency, or combinations thereof.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of imaging the region of interest comprises employing a standard B-mode imaging, or an elastography imaging.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of cavitating comprises cavitating the adipose tissue over the entire region of interest, and wherein the step of thermally treating is applied subsequent to the step of cavitating and comprises thermally treating the connective tissue over the entire region of interest.