System and method utilizing guided fluorescence for high intensity applications
First Claim
1. A fluorescence concentrator system including:
- an illumination source;
a body which includes a fluorophore, and the body positioned to receive a pump energy from the illumination source, and wherein the fluorophore outputs fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy; and
wherein the body operates to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body, the fraction of the fluorescence energy at the output surface is transmitted from the output surface as a therapeutic energy having an intensity of at least 10 W/cm2.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fluorescence concentrator system that provides for high brightness light source. The system can include a host doped with fluorescent material, which is optically pumped by an adjacent illumination source. The fluorescence concentrator captures a portion of the isotropically emitted fluorescent light and guides it to an output surface. The fluorescent energy emerging the output surface provides a high brightness light source suitable for a number of applications. For example, the fluorescence concentrator system can be used as the light source in a medical apparatus suitable for various aesthetic procedures. Further aspects of the fluorescent concentrator system can include providing for controlling the illumination source to output pumping energy suitable for high energy applications.
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Citations
78 Claims
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1. A fluorescence concentrator system including:
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an illumination source; a body which includes a fluorophore, and the body positioned to receive a pump energy from the illumination source, and wherein the fluorophore outputs fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy; and wherein the body operates to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body, the fraction of the fluorescence energy at the output surface is transmitted from the output surface as a therapeutic energy having an intensity of at least 10 W/cm2. - 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)
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26. A system for providing therapeutic treatments comprising:
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an illumination source operative to output a pump energy; a body positioned to receive the pump energy, and the body includes fluorophore which outputs fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy; a controllable power supply coupled to the illumination source to provide electrical energy to drive the illumination source; a processor coupled to the power supply; an user interface coupled to the processor, which allows a user to input one or more operational parameters to the processor; wherein in response to the user input the processor controls the power supply to provide electrical energy to drive the illumination source; and wherein the body is shaped to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body, and the fraction of the fluorescent energy is transmitted from the output surface as an application energy and wherein the spectral intensity of the application energy is greater than the spectral intensity of the illumination source. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of applying a treatment to an area of tissue, the method comprising:
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applying a pump energy from an illumination source to a body which contains a fluorophore, and wherein the fluorophore generates fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy, and the body is shaped to concentrate at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body so that the spectral intensity of the fluorescent energy at the output surface of the body is greater than the spectral intensity of the illumination source; and transmitting the fraction of the fluorescent energy through the output surface to an area of tissue being treated. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A device for providing fluorescent energy in response to a pulsed energy from a pulsed optical energy source, the device comprising:
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a pulsed optical energy source; a body which includes a transparent host doped with a fluorophore, the fluorophore generating fluorescent energy in response to the pulsed energy; the body having an input surface area where the pulsed energy is transmitted into the body, and the input surface area has a first length which corresponds to a length of the pulsed optical energy source; and the body having a shape which operates to guide at least part of the fluorescent energy to an output surface. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A fluorescence concentrator system including:
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an illumination source generating pump energy; a body; a plurality of fibers configured to transmit the pump energy from the illumination source to the body, wherein said body includes a fluorophore which outputs fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy and wherein the body operates to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body, and the fraction of the fluorescent energy at the output surface is transmitted from the output surface as a therapeutic energy and wherein the therapeutic energy has a greater spectral intensity than the spectral intensity of the illumination source.
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55. A fluorescence concentrator system including:
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an illumination source; a body which includes a fluorophore, the body positioned to receive a pump energy from the illumination source, and wherein the fluorophore outputs fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy wherein the body operates to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body; and an optical delivery module which receives the therapeutic energy from the output surface of the body and transmits the energy to an area of tissue to be treated as a therapeutic energy and wherein the therapeutic energy has a greater spectral intensity than the spectral intensity of the illumination source.
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56. A fluorescence concentrator system including:
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an illumination source; a body which includes a fluorophore, the body having a substantially cylindrical shape with a first end of the cylindrical shaped body being covered by a mirror, and with the second end of the cylindrical shape defining an output surface, the body being positioned to receive a pump energy from the illumination source, and wherein the fluorophore outputs fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy, and wherein the body operates to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to the output surface of the body, and the fraction of the fluorescent energy at the output surface is transmitted from the output surface as a therapeutic energy and wherein the therapeutic energy has a greater spectral intensity than the spectral intensity of the illumination source.
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57. A fluorescence concentrator system including:
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an illumination source; a body which includes a fluorophore, wherein the body includes a core which has a first index of refraction and the body includes a cladding which surrounds the core, and the cladding has a second index of refraction, and wherein the first index of refraction is greater than the second index of refraction and wherein the body is positioned to receive a pump energy from the illumination source, and wherein the fluorophore outputs fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy; and wherein the body operates to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body, and the fraction of the fluorescent energy at the output surface is transmitted from the output surface as a therapeutic energy and wherein the therapeutic energy has a greater spectral intensity than the spectral intensity of the illumination source.
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58. A method of applying a treatment to an area of tissue, the method comprising:
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receiving a user input for a desired treatment energy and determining an amount of pump energy to apply based on the desired treatment energy; applying a pump energy to a body which contains a fluorophore, and wherein the fluorophore generates fluorescence energy in response to the pump energy, and the body is shaped to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body; and transmitting the fraction of the fluorescent energy through the output surface to an area of tissue being treated. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61)
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62. A method of applying a treatment to an area of tissue, the method comprising:
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applying a pump energy to a body which contains a fluorophore, and wherein the fluorophore generates fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy, and the body is shaped to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body; and delivering the fraction of the fluorescent energy from the output surface of the body via a fiber to an area of tissue being treated. - View Dependent Claims (63)
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64. A method of applying a treatment to an area of tissue, the method comprising:
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applying a pump energy to a body which contains a fluorophore, and wherein the fluorophore generates fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy, and the body is shaped to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body; transmitting the fraction of the fluorescent energy from the output surface of the body through a filter; and delivering the filtered transmitted fluorescent energy to an area of tissue being treated. - View Dependent Claims (65)
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66. A method of applying a treatment to an area of tissue, the method comprising:
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applying a pump energy to a body which contains a fluorophore, and wherein the fluorophore generates fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy, and the body is shaped to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body; transmitting the fraction of the fluorescent energy through the output surface to an area of tissue being treated; and cooling the area of tissue which is treated with the fluorescent energy wherein the pump energy is supplied by an illumination source and wherein the body functions to concentrate the fluorescent energy so that the spectral intensity of the fluorescent energy at the output surface of the body is greater than the spectral intensity of the source. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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72. A method of applying a treatment to an area of tissue, the method comprising:
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applying a pump energy to a body which contains a fluorophore, and wherein the fluorophore generates fluorescence energy in response to the pump energy, and the body is shaped to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body; transmitting the fraction of the fluorescent energy through the output surface to an area of tissue being treated; and driving an illumination source to provide the pump energy, and wherein the pump energy is sufficient to cause the fluorescent energy at the output surface of the body to correspond to an intensity of at least 10 W/cm2. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75)
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76. A method of applying a treatment to an area of tissue, the method comprising:
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generating pulsed pump energy from an illumination source, said pulses having a duration less than 50 milliseconds; applying the pump energy to a body which contains a fluorophore, and wherein the fluorophore generates fluorescent energy in response to the pump energy, and the body is shaped to guide at least a fraction of the fluorescent energy to an output surface of the body; and transmitting the fraction of the fluorescent energy through the output surface to an area of tissue being treated wherein the body functions to concentrate the fluorescent energy so that the spectral intensity of the fluorescent energy at the output surface of the body is greater than the spectral intensity of the source. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78)
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Specification