METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISCONTINUOUS DERMABRASION
First Claim
1. An apparatus for cosmetic resurfacing of a skin tissue, comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of shafts, each of which has an abrading element at a distal end thereof, wherein the abrading element is configured to contact a surface of the skin tissue to generate holes in the skin tissue by removing portions of the skin tissue while leaving surrounding tissue healthy;
a drive arrangement configured to rotate each of the shafts around a longitudinal axis thereof; and
a low-pressure source configured to pull the tissue up toward the abrading elements or to facilitate removal of the abraded tissue;
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Accused Products
Abstract
Exemplary embodiments of method and apparatus are provided for resurfacing of skin that includes formation of a plurality of small holes, e.g., having widths less than about 1 mm or 0.5 mm. For example, such small holes can be produced using a mechanical apparatus that includes one or more abrading elements provided at the end of one or more rotating shafts, thus avoiding generation of thermal damage as occurs with conventional laser resurfacing procedures and devices. The holes thus formed can be well-tolerated by the skin, and may exhibit shorter healing times and less swelling than conventional resurfacing procedures. The fractional surface coverage of the holes can be between about 0.1 and 0.7, or between about 0.2 and 0.5. The method and apparatus can produce cosmetic improvements in the skin appearance by eliciting a healing response.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An apparatus for cosmetic resurfacing of a skin tissue, comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of shafts, each of which has an abrading element at a distal end thereof, wherein the abrading element is configured to contact a surface of the skin tissue to generate holes in the skin tissue by removing portions of the skin tissue while leaving surrounding tissue healthy; a drive arrangement configured to rotate each of the shafts around a longitudinal axis thereof; and a low-pressure source configured to pull the tissue up toward the abrading elements or to facilitate removal of the abraded tissue; - 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, 27, 28)
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29. An apparatus for cosmetic resurfacing of a skin tissue, comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of shafts, each of which has an abrading element at a distal end thereof, wherein the abrading element is configured to contact a surface of the skin tissue to generate holes in the skin tissue by removing portions of the skin tissue while leaving surrounding tissue healthy; a drive arrangement configured to rotate each of the shafts around a longitudinal axis thereof; and a reciprocating arrangement configured to translate the shafts in a direction substantially along the longitudinal axis of the shafts, wherein the reciprocating arrangement is configured to control the protrusion distance of the shafts from a lower surface of the housing.
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30. An apparatus for cosmetic resurfacing of a skin tissue, comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of shafts; a drive arrangement configured to rotate each of the shafts around a longitudinal axis thereof, an abrading element coupled to a distal end of each of the shafts, wherein the abrading element is configured to contact a surface of the skin tissue to generate holes in the skin tissue by removing portions of the skin tissue while leaving surrounding tissue healthy; wherein the plurality of shafts is arranged in an array comprising one or more rows, or in a random spatial distribution, so that operation of the device generates a corresponding pattern of holes in the tissue by removing the portions of the skin tissue.
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Specification