Systems and methods with interrupt/resume capabilities for treating subcutaneous lipid-rich cells

• US 9,737,434 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2013
• Issued: 08/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZELTIQ Aesthetics, Inc. (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: ZELTIQ Aesthetics, Inc. (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Inventors: Allison, John W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Kaitlyn
• Application Number:
  US13/888,168
• Publication Number:
  US 20130245731A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,569 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00106 ultrasonic
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0075 using a Peltier element, e.g. near the spot to be heated or cooled
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0095 with a temperature indicator
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/029 Fat cell removal or destruction by non-ablative heat treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0296 Intervals of heating alternated with intervals of cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/0085 Devices for generating hot or cold treatment fluids
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/10 Cooling bags, e.g. ice-bags

Abstract

Systems for removing heat from a subject'"'"'s subcutaneous lipid-rich regions, such as tissue, organs, cells, and so forth, are described herein. In various embodiments, the system includes a treatment device and a controller for controlling a treatment process. The controller is configured to detect and compensate for an interruption in the treatment process.

Claims

1. A method for treating a subcutaneous lipid-rich region of a subject having skin, comprising:

heating or cooling the subcutaneous lipid-rich region of the subject according to a profile of a treatment process, the profile having a total duration;

identifying an interruption in the treatment process after a first duration,

determining a second duration of the identified interruption;

determining a third duration equal to a difference between the total duration and the first duration;

compensating for (1) rewarming of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region of the subject during the second duration when the subcutaneous lipid-rich region is cooled during the first duration and (2) a temperature decrease in the subcutaneous lipid-rich region when the subcutaneous lipid-rich region is heated during the first duration; and

after compensating for rewarming of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region or the temperature decrease in the subcutaneous lipid-rich region, continuing the treatment process according to the profile for the third duration.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an interruption temperature (T_interrupt) of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region after the first duration and a rewarming temperature (T_rewarm) of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region after the second duration based on the first and second durations, respectively.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an interruption temperature (T_interrupt) of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region after the first duration and a rewarming temperature (T_rewarm) of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region after the second duration based on the first and second durations, respectively, wherein the profile is a first profile, and wherein the method further includes determining a second profile having a cooling rate ({dot over (Q)}) calculated as follows:

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an interruption temperature (T_interrupt) of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region after the first duration and a rewarming temperature (T_rewarm) of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region after the second duration based on the first and second durations, respectively, wherein the profile is a first profile, and wherein the method further includes determining a second profile having an expected rate of change for a temperature at the skin of the subject as follows:

5. The method of claim 4 wherein compensating for rewarming includes

monitoring a rate of change for the temperature at the skin of the subject;

and

adjusting the second profile for the recovery process if the monitored rate of change deviates from the expected rate of change by a preselected amount.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein compensating for rewarming includes

monitoring a rate of change for the temperature at the skin of the subject;

and

adjusting the second profile for the recovery process if the monitored rate of change deviates from the expected rate of change by a preselected percentage.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a compensation cooling/heating rate based on the second duration; and

cooling or heating the subcutaneous lipid-rich region based on the compensation cooling/heating rate to compensate for the rewarming or the temperature decrease of the subcutaneous lipid-rich cells.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether to resume the treatment process after the identified interruption based on the second duration and/or a number of interruption occurrences;

if the determination is to resume the treatment process, the treatment process is continued according to the profile for the third duration; and

if the determination is to not resume the treatment process, the treatment process according to the profile is stopped.

9. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

10. A method for treating a subcutaneous lipid-rich region of a subject having skin, comprising:

heating or cooling the subcutaneous lipid-rich region of the subject according to a profile of a treatment process, the profile having a total duration;

identifying an interruption in the treatment process after a first duration,

determining an interrupt duration of the interruption;

determining a compensation treatment profile based on the interrupt duration, the compensation treatment profile being different from the profile of the treatment process;

heating or cooling the subcutaneous lipid-rich region according to the compensation treatment profile to compensate for changes in temperature of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region associated with the identified interruption;

determining a third duration based on the total duration and the first duration; and

after compensating for the identified interruption, continuing the treatment process according to the profile based on the third duration.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determine whether to resume the treatment process based on the interrupt duration and/or a number of interruption occurrences;

if the determination is to resume the treatment process, the treatment process is continued according to the profile for the third duration; and

if the determination is to not resume the treatment process, the treatment process is terminated.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the third duration is equal to a difference between the total duration and the first duration.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a recovery cooling/heating rate based on the interrupt duration; and

cooling or heating the subcutaneous lipid-rich region based on the recovery cooling/heating rate to compensate for the temperature changes of the subcutaneous lipid-rich region associated with the identified interruption.