Apparatus and Method for Treatment of Microbial Infection

Abstract

A method and apparatus for treatment of skin or other tissue, using a source of thermal, electromagnetic radiation, electrical current, ultrasonic, mechanical or other type of energy, to cause minimally-invasive thermally-mediated effects in skin or other tissue which stimulates a wound-healing response, in conjunction with topical agents or other wound healing compositions, for application on the skin or other tissue which accelerate collagenesis, such as in response to wound healing. The dosage and time period of application of the compositions are adjusted to prevent external or surface tissue damage.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a Divisional of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 902,843 filed Oct. 12, 2010, (Attorney Docket No.: CTC-404) entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TREATMENT OF MICROBIAL INFECTION OF TOENAILS, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 466,047 filed Aug. 21, 2006 (Attorney Docket No.: CTC-402) entitled ENHANCED NONINVASIVE COLLAGEN REMODELING, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 934,356 filed Aug. 21, 2001 and issued Aug. 22, 2006, U.S. Pat. No. 7,094,252 (Attorney Docket No.: CTC-401) entitled ENHANCED NONINVASIVE COLLAGEN REMODELING, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and claims any and all benefits to which it is entitled therefrom. This application is also related to pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 841,110 filed Jul. 12, 2010 (Attorney Docket No.: CTI-2001) entitled TREATMENT OF MICROBIAL INFECTIONS USING HOT AND COLD THERMAL SHOCK AND P...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This approach effectively inactivates fungal infections with lower energy input, reducing pain and tissue damage, and allows for safer and more efficient treatment of toenail fungus by utilizing thermal feedback control and mechanical deformation induced by vacuum pressure.

Problems solved by technology

CO2 laser resurfacing is not a new technique.

CO2 lasers have been used for several years, but regular continuous wave CO2 lasers can cause scarring due to the tissue destruction caused as heat as conducted to adjacent tissue.

Even superpulse CO2 lasers produce excessive thermal damage.

Coincident with these manifestations is the risk of reduced resistance to infection.

However strong absorption of the laser energy by water limits the penetration depth to the most superficial layers of skin.

The device requires a small lens of a few millimeters in contact with skin and results in a slow procedure when used for facial areas.

The authors state that a more superficial thermal injury may be needed than could be achieved, and that there are increased patient risks because it would demand more accurate and precise control of heating and cooling.

There are many systemic, topical and herbal treatments available to treat this disease but none are truly efficacious and several have severe potential side effects.

Unfortunately UV light has difficulty penetrating the toenail and can cause side effects in the dermis.

UV light is not considered to be a successful treatment modality despite a great deal of research.

Infrared radiation penetrates the toenail much better than UV and it has been shown that the fungus can be inactivated by raising the temperature of the pathogen to about 50° C. The problem associated with this method is that achieving the inactivation temperature in the nail bed risks damaging the surrounding dermal tissue, especially the matrix where the nail actually grows.

Hemoglobin absorbing wavelengths can coagulate capillaries in the proximal fold and permanently damage the toenail.

The above-mentioned methods may cause permanent damage to sensitive areas.

The problem and shortcoming with this method is the difficulty in getting the substance infused to the proper areas and the high temperatures required to inactivate the microbe.

Damage to the surrounding tissue is likely to happen by using this method.

This method however has not been proven to be efficient enough to be practical in removing large volumes of plaque buildup.

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