External ultrasound lipoplasty
First Claim
1. An external ultrasound lipoplasty (EUL) system comprising a transmitter and a multichannel transducer comprising an electronic focus and operated in a 0.5 MHz to 20 MHz frequency range, wherein the transmitter is configured to multi-zone focus by electronically sweeping the focus of the transducer such that it generates pulses of acoustic energy at different focal lengths at different times within a user or manufacturer selected depth range between about 1 mm and 30 mm during a use by controlling a plurality of attributes selected from the group consisting of an aperture size, a frequency, a transmit voltage, a delay, an apodization, a pulse repetition frequency and a pulse length for each swept depth to not irreversibly affect tissue of a patient beyond the user or manufacturer selected depth range when an acoustic pressure and intensity of said EUL system is high enough to substantially emulsify fat within said selected depth range of the tissue.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention relates to a non-invasive, safer alternative to current lipoplasty procedures. The preferred embodiment of the invention is a multi-channel system that focuses the low mega Hertz ultrasound at user selectable depths, where fat cells are to be emulsified. The system has independent user control of the main emulsifying property, cavitation, and thermal heating, which can independently be used for skin tightening. One part of the system is a handheld transducer, in shape similar to a typical small diagnostic ultrasound transducer. The other part of the system includes a transmitter with internal tracking of procedure time and with a disabling feature.
186 Citations
21 Claims
- 1. An external ultrasound lipoplasty (EUL) system comprising a transmitter and a multichannel transducer comprising an electronic focus and operated in a 0.5 MHz to 20 MHz frequency range, wherein the transmitter is configured to multi-zone focus by electronically sweeping the focus of the transducer such that it generates pulses of acoustic energy at different focal lengths at different times within a user or manufacturer selected depth range between about 1 mm and 30 mm during a use by controlling a plurality of attributes selected from the group consisting of an aperture size, a frequency, a transmit voltage, a delay, an apodization, a pulse repetition frequency and a pulse length for each swept depth to not irreversibly affect tissue of a patient beyond the user or manufacturer selected depth range when an acoustic pressure and intensity of said EUL system is high enough to substantially emulsify fat within said selected depth range of the tissue.
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13. A method for emulsifying subdermal fat of a patient comprising:
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selecting a depth range within which to focus acoustic energy between 1 millimeter and 30 millimeters; topically applying ultrasound through a hand-held high intensity focused ultrasound transducer acoustically coupled to skin via a liquid or gel, said focused ultrasound transducer comprising a transmitter and a multi-channel transducer operated in a 0.5 MHz to 20 MHz frequency range, wherein the transducer comprises an electronic focus; and by multi-zone focusing, electronically sweeping the focus of the topically applied acoustic energy within the selected depth range to generate pulses of acoustic energy at different focal lengths at different times and so as to not irreversibly affect tissue of the patient beyond the user or manufacturer selected depth range when an acoustic pressure and intensity of said focused ultrasound transducer is high enough to substantially emulsify said subdermal fat within said selected depth range of the tissue. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification