Method and Apparatus for Monitoring and Controlling Thermally Induced Tissue Treatment

Abstract

A method and apparatus for thermal treatment of tissue by irradiating the skin with electromagnetic energy is disclosed. Sources of electromagnetic energy include radio frequency (RF) generators, lasers, and flashlamps. The apparatus includes either a positional sensor or a dosage evaluation sensor, or both types of sensors. These sensors provide feedback to a controller. The controller may control the electromagnetic source parameters, the electromagnetic source activation, and / or the sensor measurement parameters. An additional scanning delivery unit may be operably coupled to the controller or to the sensors to provide a controlled distribution of electromagnetic energy to the target region of the skin. The use of positional measurement sensors and dosage evaluation sensors permits the controller to automatically determine the proper electromagnetic source parameters including, for example, pulse timing and pulse frequency.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 712,358, “Method and Apparatus for Monitoring and Controlling Thermally Induced Tissue Treatment,” by Leonard C. DeBenedictis, George Frangineas, Kin F. Chan, B. Wayne Stuart III, Robert Kehl Sink, Thomas R. Myers and Basil Hantash, filed Aug. 29, 2005. The subject matter of all of the foregoing is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for dermatological tissue treatment, and more particularly, to controlling dosage from an electromagnetic source based on measurements of a handpiece motion and / or skin tissue response. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Many electromagnetic dermatological treatment systems require extensive training before physicians and nurses develop the skills to d...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017] In one embodiment of the invention, a contrast enhancing agent is used to enhance the signal to noise ratio of the positional sensor. For example, FD&C Blue #1 can be applied to the surface of the skin to create an improved signal for a positional sensor comprising an optical mouse chip, CCD array, or other detector array, preferably with at least 25 elements. Using at least 25 elements as a 5×5 array is preferred because this allows sufficient image resolution to observe the changes in positional parameters and / or dosage response. If fewer detector elements are used, a more sophisticated algorithm and / or more sophisticated electronics generally will be typically required in order to distinguish changes in handpiece positional parameters and / or skin response. Other contrast enhancing agents are fluorescent or provide maximum contrast enhancement with IR or UV illumination. Wavelength selective coatings on the optical elements of the system may be used in conjunction with fluorescent contrast enhancing agents to filter out one or more illumination wavelengths. For example, the wavelength selective coatings can be designed to filter out light that is used to enhance the response of an optical positional sensor in order to improve the signal to noise ratio for a fluorescent emission signal at a different wavelength.

[0021] In another embodiment of the invention, the scanning motion of a scanning delivery unit is not changed, but the pulse rate or pulse timing of the electromagnetic source is changed by the controller in response to measurements by at least one positional sensor and / or at least one dosage evaluation sensor. The pulse timing and scanner patterns may be chosen such that the beam is intentionally dragged across the treatment region to reduce the treatment intensity and / or to increase the size of each treatment zone created by each energy pulse.

[0022] In another embodiment of the invention, healthy skin is spared in regions between individual treatment zones to create fractional treatment. The spared tissue helps to promote rapid healing of the wounded area, prevent scarring, and allow higher treatment levels than are otherwise possible without side effects. The measurement of positional parameters can be used to accurately space the treatment zones from one another so that treatment dosage can be properly controlled.

Problems solved by technology

In many cases, physicians and nurses do not treat uniformly, resulting in uneven treatment, over treatment, or under treatment.

Additionally, not all patients respond the same way to the same level of treatment.

Designing for the most sensitive region or patient will frequently lead to undertreatment of other regions or patients.

This type of treatment apparatus is slow and has a lot of repetitive motions, which can be tiring to the operator.

This system requires skill and increases the risks of over- or under-treatment in the hands of an unskilled operator.

Weckwerth U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,845 describes the use of optical measurements of regularly spaced indicia that are placed on or adjacent to the treatment region, but the concept is limited by the application of regularly spaced indicia that are counted to measure distance traveled by a handpiece.

In addition, the visible indicia may be difficult to remove following treatment, and may leave an unsightly pattern on the skin following treatment.

These can be unreliable, for example, when used with gel due to a lack of friction between the mechanical roller and the skin surface.

This leads to drop outs and errors in measurements of positional parameters.

In addition, mechanical rollers can become rusted or gummed up so that they no longer spin easily, which makes dropouts and errors more likely.

Wearing out of mechanical parts leads to similar errors.

In addition, these systems only measure one coordinate for the handpiece, which means that motion of the handpiece across the target tissue due to change in orientation of the handpiece may not be accounted for by the sensor systems.

This leads to inaccuracies.

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