Method for cryogenically treating tissue below the skin surface
First Claim
1. A laser system for tissue treatment, comprising:
- A) A hand-held portable battery powered tissue cooling unit comprising;
1) a cooling transmitting element comprised of material transparaent to light at a nominal wavelength and having high thermal conductivity and having a contact surface for contacting a surface of tissue being treated,2) a cryogenic container mounted within or on said cooling unit,3) a cryogen contained in said container,4) a cryogenic cooling chamber for cooling at least one surface of said cooling element, said chamber having an entrance port communicating with said container and an exit port,5) a battery powered cryogenic control means for permitting a flow of vaporizing cryogen from said container into said chamber to cool said at least one surface in order to remove heat from said tissue surface and to produce desired temperature distribution in target tissue being treated, and6) a battery mounted on or within said cooling unit for providing power to said control means, andB) a source of laser light defining a nominal wavelength arranged to transmit said laser light through said cooling transmitting element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A laser treatment device and process with controlled cooling. The device contains a cooling element with high heat conduction properties, which is transparent to the laser beam. A surface of the cooling element is held in contact with the tissue being treated while at least one other surface of the cooling element is cooled by the evaporation of a cryogenic fluid. The cooling is coordinated with the application of the laser beam so as to control the temperatures of all affected layers of tissues. In a preferred embodiment useful for removal of wrinkles and spider veins, the cooling element is a sapphire plate. A cryogenic spray cools the top surface of the plate and the bottom surface of the plate is in contact with the skin. In preferred embodiments the wavelength of the laser beam is chosen so that absorption in targeted tissue is low enough so that substantial absorption occurs throughout the targeted tissue. In a preferred embodiment for treating large spider veins with diameters in the range of 1.5 mm, Applicants use an Er:Glass laser with a wavelength of 1.54 microns.
151 Citations
67 Claims
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1. A laser system for tissue treatment, comprising:
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A) A hand-held portable battery powered tissue cooling unit comprising; 1) a cooling transmitting element comprised of material transparaent to light at a nominal wavelength and having high thermal conductivity and having a contact surface for contacting a surface of tissue being treated, 2) a cryogenic container mounted within or on said cooling unit, 3) a cryogen contained in said container, 4) a cryogenic cooling chamber for cooling at least one surface of said cooling element, said chamber having an entrance port communicating with said container and an exit port, 5) a battery powered cryogenic control means for permitting a flow of vaporizing cryogen from said container into said chamber to cool said at least one surface in order to remove heat from said tissue surface and to produce desired temperature distribution in target tissue being treated, and 6) a battery mounted on or within said cooling unit for providing power to said control means, and B) a source of laser light defining a nominal wavelength arranged to transmit said laser light through said cooling transmitting element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A process for treating tissue, comprising the steps of:
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A) generating from a source a laser light defining a nominal wavelength, B) transmitting said laser light through a hand-held portable battery operated tissue cooling unit comprising a cooling transmitting element comprised of material transparent to light at said nominal wavelength and having high thermal conductivity and having a contact surface for contacting a surface of tissue being treated, C) inserting cryogen from a cryogenic container, mounted on or within said cooling unit, into a cryogenic cooling chamber for said cooling element, said chamber having an entrance port communicating with said container and an exit port, wherein said inserting permits a flow of vaporizing cryogen from said container into said chamber to cool said cooling element in order to remove heat from the tissue surface and to produce desired temperature distribution in target tissue and wherein the battery is mounted on or within the cooling unit. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A hand-held portable battery powered tissue cooling unit, useful for both cryogenic tissue treatment and for cooling tissue during laser treatment, comprising:
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A) a cooling transmitting element comprised of material transparent to light at a nominal wavelength and having high thermal conductivity and having a contact surface for contacting a surface of tissue being treated, B) a cryogenic container mounted on or within said cooling unit, C) a cryogen contained in said container, D) a cryogenic cooling chamber for cooling at least one surface of said cooling element, said chamber having an entrance port communicating with said container and an exit port, E) a battery powered cryogenic control means for permitting a flow of vaporizing cryogen from said container into said chamber to cool said at least one surface in order to remove heat from said tissue surface and to produce desired temperature distribution in target tissue being treated, and F) a battery mounted on or within said cooling unit providing power to said control means. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for cryogenically treating tissue below a skin surface, comprising:
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placing a hand-held unit in contact with the skin surface; cryogenically cooling the skin surface by contacting the skin surface with a material which has high thermal conductivity; monitoring a temperature of either the material or the skin surface; and controlling an amount of time the hand-held unit is in contact with the skin surface and an amount of cooling applied in order to cryogenically reach a desired temperature of the tissue at a desired depth below the skin surface, which is lower than a temperature before treatment, to promote lymphatic drainage by cold therapy. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method for cryogenically treating tissue below a skin surface, comprising:
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placing a hand-held unit in contact with the skin surface; cryogenically cooling the skin surface by contacting the skin surface with a material which has high thermal conductivity; monitoring a temperature of either the material or the skin surface; and controlling an amount of time the hand-held unit is in contact with the skin surface and an amount of cooling applied in order to cryogenically reach a desired temperature of the tissue at a desired depth below the skin surface, which is lower than a temperature before treatment, to promote lymphatic drainage by cold therapy, wherein cooling of the skin tissue is accompanied by no heating with laser light or other heating mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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Specification