FRACTIONAL SCANNER FOR DERMATOLOGICAL TREATMENTS

• US 20090254073A1
• Filed: 03/16/2009
• Published: 10/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cutera Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cutera Incorporated
• Inventors: Connors, Kevin P., Gollnick, David A., Davenport, Scott A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,366,703 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/9
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/203 applying laser energy to the outside of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00747 Dermatology
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00452 Skin
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/20351 Scanning mechanisms

Abstract

A dermatological treatment device is disclosed for generating a matrix of two dimensional treatment spots on the tissue. A handpiece carrier a laser which generates a beam of laser pulses. The pulses are focused onto the tissue with a lens system. A diffractive element is positioned between the laser and the lens system for splitting the laser beam into a plurality of sub-beams. A scanner translates the beam over the diffractive element to generate the two dimensional spot pattern. The laser has a semi-monolithic resonator design with one integral end mirror defining the output coupler and a second, independent mirror for adjustment.

Claims

1. A laser handpiece for generating radiation for treating tissue comprising:

a housing;

an elongated laser rod located within the housing and having a planar first end provided with a coating that is partially transmissive to the laser radiation and defining the output coupler, and wherein the opposed second end of the rod includes an antireflection coating;

a planar mirror aligned with and spaced from said second end of the rod and forming, in combination with the first end of the rod a laser resonator;

a flashlamp for pumping the rod to generate a beam of laser radiation; and

optics for focusing the beam onto the tissue.

2. A laser handpiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said planar mirror is supported by a pivotal mount to permit the tilt angle of the mirror to be adjusted to facilitate alignment of the resonator.

3. A laser handpiece as recited in claim 1, wherein the optics includes a beam diffractive optical element for angularly splitting the beam into a plurality of sub-beams and a lens pair for directing the beams along parallel paths and for focusing the beam onto tissue.

4. A laser handpiece as recited in claim 3, further including a reflective scanner positioned between the first mirror and the diffractive optical element for scanning the beam over the diffractive optical element to cause the sub-beams to be scanned over the tissue.

5. A dermatological handpiece for treating tissue comprising:

a housing;

a laser mounted within the housing and generating a pulsed beam of radiation;

a diffractive element aligned with the beam for splitting the beam into a linear array of sub-beams;

a lens for focusing the sub-beams onto the tissue to create an linear array of treatment spots;

a scanner positioned between the laser and the diffractive element for varying the position of the beam axis onto the diffractive element; and

a controller operatively connected to the laser and the scanner and responsive to user input to create a two dimensional scanned pattern of spots and wherein in operation, the laser is commanded to deliver a first pulse which creates a line array of spots on the tissue, whereupon the controller causes the scanner to translate the beam axis to a second position on the diffractive element and thereafter the laser is commanded to deliver a second pulse which creates a line array of spots spatially separate from the first line array of spots, and wherein the controller is configured to successively translate the beam axis to a third and subsequent positions on the diffractive element while generating additional laser pulses at each said position to create a two dimensional array of spots on the tissue and wherein the spacing between the positions on the diffractive element can be controlled to control the density of the spots on the tissue.

6. A handpiece as recited in claim 5, wherein the scanner is operative to move the beam in two mutually perpendicular axes so that the density of the spots on the tissue can be controlled in two axes.

7. A method of treating tissue comprising the steps of:

generating a beam of laser radiation which is directed through a diffractive element which functions to split the beam into a plurality of sub-beams which are focused onto the tissue to create a line array of spots on the tissue and wherein the beam is defined by a series of pulses;

between each pulse, using a scanner to change the position of the beam axis on the diffractive element to create a two dimensional array of spots on the tissue and wherein the positions of the beam axis on the diffractive element are adjustable based on user input to control the density of spots on the tissue.

8. A method as recited in claim 7 wherein the beam can be scanned in two mutually perpendicular axes so that the density of the spots on the tissue can be controlled in two axes.