Self-contained, diode-laser-based dermatologic treatment apparatus
First Claim
1. A dermatologic treatment apparatus that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held, comprising:
- (a) a self-contained housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a dermatologic treatment procedure;
(b) a light source comprising one or more diode laser bars each having a plurality of emitters within the housing;
(c) direct drive electrical circuit within the housing comprising one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit for directly energizing the light source to produce output light pulses; and
(d) a light path within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing having properties that provide efficacious treatment;
(e) wherein the cordless apparatus has a total weight of no more than one kilogram,(f) wherein the cordless apparatus occupies no more than 1500 cm3 of volume, and(g) wherein the one or more batteries supply a battery voltage Vbat, and the electronic control circuit comprises one or more field effect transistors (FETs) and a voltage supply, wherein the voltage supply drives the gates of the FETs at a voltage greater than the battery voltage Vbat.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dermatologic treatment apparatus is disclosed that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held. A self-contained housing is configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a dermatologic treatment procedure. A light source and electrical circuit are contained within the housing. The circuit includes one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit for energizing the light source to produce output light pulses. A light path is within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing having properties sufficient for providing efficacious treatment.
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Citations
69 Claims
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1. A dermatologic treatment apparatus that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held, comprising:
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(a) a self-contained housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a dermatologic treatment procedure; (b) a light source comprising one or more diode laser bars each having a plurality of emitters within the housing; (c) direct drive electrical circuit within the housing comprising one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit for directly energizing the light source to produce output light pulses; and (d) a light path within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing having properties that provide efficacious treatment; (e) wherein the cordless apparatus has a total weight of no more than one kilogram, (f) wherein the cordless apparatus occupies no more than 1500 cm3 of volume, and (g) wherein the one or more batteries supply a battery voltage Vbat, and the electronic control circuit comprises one or more field effect transistors (FETs) and a voltage supply, wherein the voltage supply drives the gates of the FETs at a voltage greater than the battery voltage Vbat. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A dermatologic hair-regrowth-inhibiting apparatus that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held, comprising:
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(a) a self-contained housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure; (b) a light source comprising one or more diode laser bars within the housing; (c) a direct drive electrical circuit within the housing comprising one or more batteries for energizing the light source to produce output light pulses, wherein the one or more batteries supply a battery voltage Vbat, and the electrical circuit comprises one or more field effect transistors (FETs) and a voltage supply, wherein the voltage supply drives gates of the FETs at a voltage greater than the battery voltage Vbat; and (d) a light path within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing having properties sufficient for at least temporary hair-regrowth inhibition. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A dermatologic hair-regrowth-inhibiting apparatus that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held, comprising:
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(a) a self-contained housing configured for gripping with a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure; (b) a light source within the housing containing one or more diode lasers; (c) an electrical circuit within the housing comprising one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit for energizing the light source with current pulses greater than 25 amps to produce output light pulses, wherein the one or more batteries supply a battery voltage Vbat, and the electrical circuit comprises one or more field effect transistors (FETs) and a voltage supply, wherein the voltage supply drives the gates of the FETs at a voltage greater than the battery voltage Vbat; (d) a light path within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing; and
wherein(1) a peak power of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 10 watts and 120 watts; (2) a pulse duration of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 10 milliseconds and 1 second; (3) an output fluence of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 4 J/cm2 and 100 J/cm2;
(4) a majority of the energy of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is contained within a spectral band of 700 nm to 1100 nm. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A dermatologic hair-regrowth-inhibiting apparatus that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held, comprising:
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(a) a self-contained housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure; (b) a light source within the housing comprising one or more diode lasers; (c) a direct drive electrical circuit within the housing comprising one or more batteries for energizing the light source to produce output light pulses, wherein the one or more batteries supply a battery voltage Vbat, and the electrical circuit comprises one or more field effect transistors (FETs) and a voltage supply, wherein the voltage supply drives the gates of the FETs at a voltage greater than the battery voltage Vbat; (d) a light path within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing; and
wherein(1) a peak power of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 10 watts and 120 watts; (2) a pulse duration of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 10 milliseconds and 1 second; (3) an output fluence of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 4 J/cm2 and 100 J/cm2; (4) a majority of the energy of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is contained within a spectral band of 700 nm to 1100 nm; (5) the cordless apparatus has a total weight of no more than one kilogram; (6) the cordless apparatus occupies no more than 1500 cm3 of volume; (7) light pulses are emitted at a pulse repetition frequency between 0.1 Hz and 2 Hz; and (8) a light pulse emitted at the aperture has a spot size between 0.25 cm2 and 5 cm2. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A dermatologic treatment apparatus that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held, comprising:
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(a) a self-contained housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a dermatologic treatment procedure; (b) a light source comprising one or more diode laser bars within the housing; (c) an electrical circuit within the housing comprising one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit applying current pulses in excess of 25 amps to the light source to produce output light pulses, wherein the electrical circuit comprises a supercapacitor for energizing the light source; (d) a light path within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing having properties that provide efficacious treatment; and (e) wherein the cordless apparatus has a total weight of no more than one kilogram, and (f) wherein the cordless apparatus occupies no more than 1500 cm3 of volume.
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65. A dermatologic hair-regrowth-inhibiting apparatus that is cordless and sufficiently compact as to be hand-held, comprising:
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(a) a self-contained housing configured for gripping with a person'"'"'s hand for cordless manipulation in a hair-regrowth-inhibiting procedure; (b) a light source within the housing containing one or more diode lasers; (c) an electrical circuit within the housing comprising one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit including a supercapacitor for energizing the light source with current pulses greater than 25 amps to produce output light pulses, the supercapacitor having a capacitance of at least 1 farad; (d) a light path within the housing including an aperture through which the output light pulses are propagated out of the housing; and
wherein(1) a peak power of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 10 watts and 120 watts; (2) a pulse duration of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 10 milliseconds and 1 second; (3) an output fluence of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is between 4 J/cm2 and 100 J/cm2;
(4) a majority of the energy of a light pulse emitted by the apparatus is contained within a spectral band of 700 nm to 1100 nm.
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66. A dermatologic treatment method for cordlessly treating a person'"'"'s skin, comprising:
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(a) gripping in a person'"'"'s hand a self-contained housing assembly of a dermatologic treatment device; (b) positioning the housing assembly such that an output window component of the device contacts an epidermis of a same or different person; (c) determining based on signals from a contact sensor whether substantial contact is made between the contact sensor and the epidermis; (d) in response to determining that substantial contact is made between the contact sensor and the epidermis, automatically energizing, with current pulses of at least 25 amps, a light source comprising one or more diode lasers with an electrical circuit including one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit, each contained within the housing assembly, to produce controlled output light pulses; (e) transmitting the output light pulses generated by the light source along a light path within the housing including an aperture through which light pulses are propagated from the housing assembly having properties sufficient for efficacious treatment; and (f) cordlessly manipulating the hand-held, dermatologic device in a skin treatment procedure. - View Dependent Claims (67)
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68. A dermatologic treatment method for cordlessly treating a person'"'"'s skin, comprising:
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(a) gripping in a person'"'"'s hand a self-contained housing assembly of a dermatologic treatment device; (b) positioning the housing assembly such that an output window component of the device contacts an epidermis of a same or different person; (c) energizing, with current pulses of at least 25 amps, a light source comprising one or more diode lasers with an electrical circuit including one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit, each contained within the housing assembly, to produce controlled output light pulses; (d) transmitting the output light pulses generated by the light source along a light path within the housing including an aperture through which light pulses are propagated from the housing assembly having properties sufficient for efficacious treatment; and (e) cordlessly manipulating the hand-held, dermatologic device in a skin treatment procedure; and (f) wherein the one or more batteries supply a battery voltage Vbat, and the electrical circuit comprises one or more field effect transistors (FETs) and a voltage supply, wherein the voltage supply drives gates of the FETs at a voltage greater than the battery voltage Vbat.
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69. A dermatologic treatment method for cordlessly treating a person'"'"'s skin, comprising:
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(a) gripping in a person'"'"'s hand a self-contained housing assembly of a dermatologic treatment device; (b) positioning the housing assembly such that an output window component of the device contacts an epidermis of a same or different person; (c) energizing, with current pulses of at least 25 amps, a light source comprising one or more diode lasers with an electrical circuit including one or more batteries and an electronic control circuit including a supercapacitor, each contained within the housing assembly, to produce controlled output light pulses, the supercapacitor having a capacitance of at least 1 farad; (d) transmitting the output light pulses generated by the light source along a light path within the housing including an aperture through which light pulses are propagated from the housing assembly having properties sufficient for efficacious treatment; and (e) cordlessly manipulating the hand-held, dermatologic device in a skin treatment procedure.
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Specification