Cooling device having a plurality of controllable cooling elements to provide a predetermined cooling profile

• US 20080077211A1
• Filed: 09/26/2006
• Published: 03/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZELTIQ Aesthetics, Inc. (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Juniper Medical, Inc. (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Inventors: Pennybacker, William, Rosen, Jesse N., Levinson, Mitchell
• Granted Patent: US 9,132,031 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/108
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/14 Probes or electrodes therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00011 with fluids
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00023 closed, i.e. without wound contact by the fluid
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00047 using Peltier effect
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00452 Skin
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00476 Hair follicles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00744 Fluid flow
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00791 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0001 Body part
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0052 for treatment of skin or hair
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0054 with a closed fluid circuit, e.g. hot water
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0056 for cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0075 using a Peltier element, e.g. near the spot to be heated or cooled
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0093 programmed
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/029 Fat cell removal or destruction by non-ablative heat treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/0085 Devices for generating hot or cold treatment fluids
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/02 Compresses or poultices for effecting heating or cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/10 Cooling bags, e.g. ice-bags

Abstract

A cooling device for removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject having skin is provided. The cooling device includes a plurality of cooling elements movable relative to each other to conform to the contour'"'"'s of the subject'"'"'s skin. The cooling elements have a plurality of controllable thermoelectric coolers. The cooling elements can be controlled to provide a time-varying cooling profile in a predetermined sequence, can be controlled to provide a spatial cooling profile in a selected pattern, or can be adjusted to maintain constant process parameters, or can be controlled to provide a combination thereof.

Claims

1. A cooling device for removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject having skin, comprising:

a plurality of cooling elements hinged to each other to allow the elements to rotate relative to each other; and

wherein the cooling elements have a skin interface surface.

2. The cooling device of claim 1, wherein the angle between the cooling elements can be rotated from about 0°

to about 45°

.

3. The cooling device of claim 1, wherein the cooling device forms an arcuate shape configured to conform to a subject.

4. The cooling device of claim 1, further comprising a retention device to releasably retain the cooling device on a subject.

5. The cooling device of claim 1, wherein the cooling elements further comprise a fluid chamber in thermal communication with the interface members and a plurality of fluid ports in fluid communication with the fluid chamber, and wherein the fluid ports are configured to allow fluid circulation through the fluid chamber.

6. The cooling device of claim 5, wherein the fluid in communication with the fluid chamber is circulated through a device that chills the fluid.

7. The cooling device of claim 5, wherein the fluid chambers are serpentine shaped.

8. The cooling device of claim 5, wherein the cooling elements are fluidicly connected in series.

9. The cooling device of claim 1, further comprising a thermally conductive coupling agent applied to an interface between the cooling device and the skin of the subject to increase thermal conductivity between the cooling device and the skin of the subject.

10. The cooling device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of cooling elements has a first side in thermal communication with the corresponding interface member and a second side opposite the first side in thermal communication with the corresponding thermoelectric heat exchanger, wherein the cooling element is configured to reduce a temperature of the target region such that lipid-rich cells in the region are affected while non-lipid-rich cells proximate to the heat exchanging surface are not significantly affected.

11. The cooling device of claim 1, further comprising a sensing element proximate to at least one of the interface members.

12. The cooling device of claim 1, further comprising:

a first temperature sensing element proximate to at least one of the interface members for detecting a temperature of a corresponding interface member; and

a second temperature sensing element proximate to at least one of the interface members for detecting a temperature of the skin of the subject.

13. The cooling device of claim 1 wherein the hinge is a living hinge.

14. A system for removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells, comprising:

a plurality of rotatable cooling elements moveable relative to one another and thermally coupled to a plurality of thermoelectric cooling devices and a corresponding plurality of heat exchanging elements contained on a segmented frame rotatable and configured to reduce a temperature of a target region under the epidermis of the subject to reduce the temperature of lipid-rich cells in the region such that the lipid-rich cells are substantially affected while non-lipid-rich cells in the epidermis are not substantially affected; and

a fluid chamber fluidicly coupled to the cooling device to dissipate heat generated by the cooling device.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a cooling unit in thermal communication with the fluid chamber and configured for providing a coolant to the cooling device.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a fluid line between the cooling unit and the cooling device such that the cooling device is in fluid communication with the cooling unit.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the cooling device further comprises a sensing element proximate to at least one of the heat exchanging surfaces, and wherein the system further comprises:

a processor in electrical communication to the sensing element and configured to convert electrical signals from the sensing element into an operating parameter; and

a database electrically connected to the processor to store the operating parameter.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor includes a control module for controlling the temperature of the region based on the operating parameter, wherein the temperature of the region is controlled based on a selected spatial temperature profile.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor includes a control module for controlling the temperature of the region based on the operating parameter, and wherein the temperature of the region is controlled based on a predetermined time-varying profile.

20. A cooling device for removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject having skin, said device comprising:

a plurality of cooling elements, each said cooling element being movable relative to an adjacent cooling element,

wherein said cooling device is conformable to the skin of the subject.

21. The cooling device of claim 20 wherein said cooling elements have edges, wherein edges of adjacent cooling elements remain substantially parallel to each other.

22. The cooling device of claim 20 wherein said cooling elements are rotatable with respect to a plane in at least one direction.

23. The cooling device of claim 20 wherein said cooling elements are thermoelectric cooling elements.

24. The cooling device of claim 20 further comprising a flexible substrate, wherein said plurality of cooling elements are fixedly disposed on said substrate.

25. The cooling device of claim 20 wherein each of said plurality of cooling elements is positioned adjacent to at least one other cooling element and hingedly attached to the adjacent cooling element.