Method and apparatus for the repigmentation of human skin
First Claim
1. A handheld, cordless, self-contained dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin comprising, a. a housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand;
- b. a battery in the housing;
c. a source in the housing and which is capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from 320 nm to 400 nm;
d. a control circuit in the housing;
e. an aperture in the housing;
f. wherein the aperture is configured, and the control circuit controls the coupling of the battery to the source, so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation of one-tenth of a minimum erythemic dose (MED) of skin is delivered at the aperture in less than about 10 seconds.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a handheld, cordless, self-contained dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin which includes a housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand, a battery in the housing, a source in the housing and which is capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from 320 nm to 400 mn, a control circuit in the housing, and an aperture in the housing. The aperture is configured, and the control circuit controls the coupling of the battery to the source, so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation of one-tenth of a minimum erythemic dose (MED) of skin is delivered at the aperture in less than about 10 seconds. Methods for configuring and for using the disclosed apparatus are described.
113 Citations
65 Claims
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1. A handheld, cordless, self-contained dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin comprising,
a. a housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand; -
b. a battery in the housing;
c. a source in the housing and which is capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from 320 nm to 400 nm;
d. a control circuit in the housing;
e. an aperture in the housing;
f. wherein the aperture is configured, and the control circuit controls the coupling of the battery to the source, so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation of one-tenth of a minimum erythemic dose (MED) of skin is delivered at the aperture in less than about 10 seconds. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin, wherein the device is handheld, cordless, and self-contained, comprising
a. a housing shaped for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand; -
b. a battery in the housing;
c. a source in the housing which is capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation;
d. control circuitry in the housing;
e. an aperture;
f. wherein the control circuitry controllably couples the battery to the source so that electromagnetic radiation emitted from the aperture satisfies the equation, where I(λ
) is the irradiance versus wavelength (units of W/cm2/nm) and R(λ
) is the relative erythemicity of the radiation as a function of wavelength relative to the erythemicity of radiation at 295 nm. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A handheld, cordless, self-contained dermatological device for targeted repigmentation of skin comprising,
a. a housing configured for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand; -
g. a battery in the housing;
h. a source of electromagnetic radiation in the housing;
i. an aperture through which the electromagnetic radiation is emitted;
j. wherein the radiation emitted from the aperture is controlled to satisfy the equation, where I(λ
) is the irradiance versus wavelength (units of W/cm2/nm) and R(λ
) is a function having the characteristics ofR(λ
)=2.04×
1024×
exp(−
λ
/5.27), for 295 nm>
λ
>
330 nm; and
R(λ
)=67.35×
exp(−
λ
/30.40), for 330 nm>
λ
>
400 nm. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin comprising
a. one or more LED'"'"'s capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from nm to400 nm;-
b. an aperture;
c. a control circuit;
d. wherein the aperture is configured, and the control circuit activates the one or more LED'"'"'s, so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation one-tenth the minimum erythemic dose (MED) of skin is delivered at the aperture in less than about 10 seconds. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin that,
a. one or more LED'"'"'s capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from 320 mn to 400 nm; -
b. an aperture;
c. a control circuit;
d. wherein the aperture is configured, and the control circuit activates the one or more LED'"'"'s, so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the aperture satisfies the equation, where I(λ
) is the irradiance versus wavelength (units of W/cm2/nm) and R(λ
) is the relative erythemicity of the radiation as a function of wavelength relative to the erythemicity of radiation at 295 nm. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin that,
a. one or more LED'"'"'s capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from nm to 400 nm;-
b. an aperture;
c. a control circuit;
d. wherein the aperture is configured, and the control circuit activates the one or more LED'"'"'s, so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the aperture satisfies the equation, where I(λ
) is the irradiance versus wavelength (units of W/cm2/nm) and R(λ
) is a function having the characteristics ofR(λ
)=2.04×
1024×
exp(−
λ
/5.27), for 295 nm>
λ
>
330 mn; and
R(λ
)=67.35×
exp(−
λ
/30.40), for 330 nm>
λ
>
400 mn. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method for configuring a dermatological device for localized repigmentation of skin comprising
a. shaping a housing for gripping by a person'"'"'s hand; -
b. positioning a battery in the housing;
c. providing a source in the housing which is capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from 320 nm to 400 nm;
d. locating a control circuit in the housing;
e. providing an aperture in the housing;
f. sizing the aperture, and configuring the control circuit to control the coupling of the battery to the source, so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation of one-tenth of a minimum erythemic dose (MED) of skin is delivered at the aperture in less than about 10 seconds.
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65. A method for localized repigmentation of skin using a self-contained, handheld, cordless dermatological device having a battery, a source which is capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation in a band from 320 nm to 400 nm, an aperture, and a control circuit that controls the coupling of the battery to the source, comprising the steps of
a. sizing the aperture to have a size of between about 1 mm2 and 50 mm2; -
b. configuring the control circuit so that a fluence of electromagnetic radiation of one-tenth of a minimum erythemic dose (MED) of skin is delivered at the aperture in less than about 10 seconds;
c. tracing the device along a portion of skin to be treated; and
d. repeating step c a predetermined number of times;
e. repeating step d for a predetermined number of days.
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Specification