Programmable pixel array laser treatment probe

Abstract

The application discloses a programmable pixel array laser treatment probe and belongs to the technical field of skin and subcutaneous tissue photothermal treatment equipment, which comprises a shell assembly, an optical engine assembly, a heat management assembly, a sensing and temperature control assembly and a control and communication chip; the pixelated light-emitting array integrates near-infrared treatment light and visible indication light, realizes coaxial synchronization and single-pixel independent addressing; a binocular camera collects information to generate adaptive light spots and target distance power compensation, and an infrared thermal imager cooperates with a PID algorithm to realize pixel-level temperature control; a cold air nozzle sprays a cooling air flow with a micro included angle of 5°-15° to adhere to the wall, and a water cooling channel and a heat-conducting material form high-efficiency heat coupling heat dissipation; a hierarchical defense system comprises a bad point self-healing energy redistribution and a hardware emergency stop loop, and in an extreme case, the laser power supply is physically cut off and a shutter is dropped; the programmable pixel array laser treatment probe provided by the application realizes curved surface adaptation, boundary visibility, precise temperature control and double safety guarantee.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of photothermal therapy equipment for skin and subcutaneous tissue, and in particular to a programmable pixel array laser therapy probe. Background Technology

[0002] Existing non-invasive photothermal therapy devices often employ fixed-shape mechanical light spots or rely on static diffraction patterns, resulting in poor adaptability to the complex curves of the human body and a tendency for uneven illumination, such as overheating at the center and under-illumination at the edges. Furthermore, traditional devices typically use single-point indicator lights, making it difficult for doctors to visually observe the actual treatment boundaries. In terms of temperature control and safety, they usually only offer coarse-grained adjustments at the system level, lacking pixel-level closed-loop control and independent underlying hardware protection mechanisms. To address these clinical and engineering challenges, this invention proposes a novel probe architecture integrating three-dimensional sensing, programmable light output, micro-angle air cooling, and intelligent hierarchical safety closed-loop control. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to provide a programmable pixel array laser therapy probe that solves the problems of poor surface adaptability, uneven energy distribution, invisible treatment boundaries, lack of pixel-level temperature control and independent hardware protection in the existing technology.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a programmable pixel array laser therapy probe, comprising: a housing assembly, an optical engine assembly, a thermal management assembly, a sensing and temperature control assembly, and a control and communication chip; The housing assembly includes a front light-emitting surface, a rear interface, and an internal receiving cavity; The optical engine assembly is disposed in the internal cavity and includes a laser array and a pixelated light-emitting array. The light-emitting surface of the pixelated light-emitting array faces the front light-emitting surface of the housing and is used to project the modulated light beam onto the target skin surface. The thermal management component includes a thermally conductive material disposed on the heating surface of the pixelated light-emitting array, a water-cooling channel thermally coupled to the thermally conductive material, and a cold air nozzle disposed on the side of the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing. The sensing and temperature control components include a binocular camera and an infrared thermal imager located next to the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing. The control and communication chip is located in the internal cavity and is connected to the optical engine assembly, thermal management assembly, and sensing and temperature control assembly.

[0005] Preferably, a robotic arm connection port is fixedly provided on the rear interface for rigid connection with the end of the robotic arm; a cooling connection port is fixedly provided on the rear interface or the side wall of the housing for connecting a cooler.

[0006] Preferably, the optical engine assembly further includes a visible light indicator light source. The laser array, the visible light indicator light source, and the pixelated light output array are integrated with a system-level high-density package and a coaxial optical path. The laser array serves as a near-infrared therapeutic radiation source, using the 1064nm wavelength band. The visible light indicator light source uses a 532nm laser or a 635nm–660nm laser. Its output light and the output light of the laser array are integrated through a coaxial optical path and then jointly enter the pixelated light output array. The pixelated light output array is a spatial light modulator, specifically any one of DMD, LCoS, liquid crystal light valve, MEMS micro shutter array, and fiber optic composite shutter.

[0007] Preferably, the thermally conductive material is a thermally conductive base made of copper, aluminum, or graphene-containing material, which is set in close contact with the heating surface of the pixelated light-emitting array; the water-cooling channel forms a seamless thermal coupling with the side of the thermally conductive material away from the heating surface, and its inlet and outlet extend to the outside of the housing for connection with an external water-cooling unit.

[0008] Preferably, the cold air nozzle is a single-sided slit structure, fixedly installed on the side of the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing facing the human tissue, and sealed to the cold air blower through a cold air connection port. The angle between its spray centerline and the tangential plane of the local skin surface is [value missing]. It is used to form a wall-sweeping cooling airflow.

[0009] Preferably, the binocular camera is used to acquire in real time the three-dimensional morphological data of the skin surface of the treatment area and the boundary contour information of the target tissue and non-target tissue; the field of view of the infrared thermal imager covers the projection area of ​​the pixelated light-emitting array, and is used to acquire the global temperature distribution of the treatment area in real time.

[0010] Preferably, the control and communication chip integrates a digital mask and target distance compensation module. The input end of the digital mask and target distance compensation module is connected to the output end of the binocular camera. The binocular camera acquires three-dimensional morphological data and optical images of the skin surface of the treatment area in real time, generates a Z-axis depth matrix, identifies non-target tissue boundaries, natural anatomical structures, and curved surfaces with obvious contour features, and performs three-dimensional level compensation. For curved surfaces, the output power of each pixel is compensated and corrected based on the actual target distance according to the Z-axis depth matrix provided by the camera in real time. The compensation result is subject to safety constraints.

[0011] Preferably, the control and communication chip integrates a pixel-level temperature control module. The input of the pixel-level temperature control module is connected to the output of the infrared thermal imager. Through the global heat distribution mapping and heat conduction estimation model of the infrared thermal imager, a high-resolution local temperature state quantity is obtained, and the real-time temperature deviation from the target safe temperature is calculated. A discrete PID control algorithm is used to calculate the driving duty cycle adjustment amount, which is then superimposed on the current driving duty cycle. The driving duty cycle is updated, and the updated driving duty cycle signal is applied to the light-emitting unit of the corresponding pixel or partition, so that it outputs light power according to the new duty cycle parameters, forming a closed-loop control. When the infrared thermal imager detects an abnormal gradient in the local tissue temperature, the closed-loop mechanism can trigger pixel-level shutdown.

[0012] Preferably, the control and communication chip integrates an array self-healing unit, which accurately locates pixels that have physically failed through feedback from pixel drive current / voltage anomaly monitoring or light emission monitoring photodiodes. And turn it off; and perform energy redistribution when a failed pixel is detected in the pixelated light output array.

[0013] Preferably, the control and communication chip includes a hardware emergency stop circuit that is independent of the main control MCU software control path within the control and communication chip; when the system encounters an extreme emergency, the hardware emergency stop circuit does not go through any software calculations of the main control MCU, directly cuts off the laser's driving power from the underlying physical link, and forces the physical safety shutter to close.

[0014] Therefore, the present invention employs the above-mentioned programmable pixel array laser treatment probe, which has the following beneficial effects: (1) Adaptive surface: Through three-dimensional perception and target distance compensation, the problem of uneven energy distribution on complex curved surfaces is solved; (2) Boundary visualization: The indicator light is synchronized with the treatment light to achieve high-precision visual positioning of the treatment boundary; (3) Comfortable cooling: Micro-angle wall-mounted air cooling improves cooling uniformity and patient comfort; (4) Pixel-level temperature control: Integrating multi-source temperature data with PID algorithm to achieve precise closed-loop temperature control; (5) Tiered safety: Software self-healing compensation and hardware independent emergency stop provide dual safety protection; (6) Refined Tissue Avoidance: The system can identify non-target tissue boundaries such as dark birthmarks, moles, or tattoos, as well as natural anatomical structures such as the navel. By marking the luminous pixels at the corresponding coordinates as "hollowed out" and turning them off, a mask is generated to avoid these structures, preventing accidental damage to special areas.

[0015] (7) Non-contact operation: Traditional contact probes require the application of cooling gel and pose a risk of cross-infection. This invention uses a single-sided slit structure with a cooling nozzle to create a wall-mounted airflow and a coaxial optical path to achieve precise projection over long distances. This achieves true non-contact photothermal intervention, eliminating the need for consumables (coupler) and avoiding physical pressure and cross-infection.

[0016] (8) Reduced maintenance costs: When a failed pixel is detected in the pixelated light output array, the system will perform energy redistribution. If a small number of bad pixels appear in the probe during use, it is not necessary to immediately scrap the entire expensive optical engine, but to compensate by updating the target energy through adjacent valid pixels.

[0017] The technical solution of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the back of the programmable pixel array laser treatment probe according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the front light-emitting surface of the programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the cold air nozzle and the pixelated light output array working together in an embodiment of the programmable pixel array laser therapy probe of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the thermal management component of the programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a global control link architecture diagram of the programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a pixel matrix grid diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a projection of the abdominal contour according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure Labels 1. Air-cooled connection port; 2. Robotic arm connection port; 3. Cooling nozzle; 4. Laser array; 5. Infrared thermal imager; 6. Water-cooled channel; 7. Thermally conductive material; 8. Pixelated light-emitting array; 9. Control and communication chip; 10. Binocular camera; 11. Skin surface. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The following detailed description of embodiments of the invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely to illustrate selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the invention.

[0021] Example 1 like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment provides a programmable pixel array laser therapy probe, including a housing assembly, an optical engine assembly, a thermal management assembly, a sensing and temperature control assembly, and a control and communication chip 9.

[0022] The housing has a front light-emitting surface, a rear interface surface, and an internal receiving cavity. A robotic arm connection port 2 is fixedly provided on the rear interface surface for rigid connection with the end effector of the robotic arm. A fan-cooling connection port 1 is fixedly provided on the rear interface surface or the side wall of the housing for connecting a cooler.

[0023] like Figure 4 As shown, the optical engine assembly is housed in the internal cavity of the housing, including a laser array 4, a visible light indicator light source, and a pixelated light output array 8. The three components are integrated with system-level high-density packaging and coaxial optical path fusion.

[0024] Laser array 4, with a wavelength of 1064 nm, serves as the near-infrared therapeutic radiation source for generating therapeutic laser light. The visible light indicator light source, selected from a 532 nm laser or a 635 nm–660 nm laser, generates visible indicator light synchronized with the therapeutic light. The output light from the visible light indicator light source and the output light from the near-infrared therapeutic radiation source are fused together via a dichroic mirror or fiber combiner to achieve a coaxial optical path before jointly entering the pixelated output light array 8.

[0025] The pixelated light-emitting array 8 is selected from DMD, LCoS, liquid crystal light valve, MEMS micro shutter array, or fiber optic composite shutter. Its light-emitting surface faces the front light-emitting surface of the housing, so that the modulated light beam is projected onto the target skin surface 11. Taking DMD as an example, its number of micromirrors ranges from 1024×768 to 4096×2160. Each micromirror corresponds to one treatment pixel. The output power of each pixel can be independently adjusted by controlling the switching time ratio of the micromirrors.

[0026] This optical engine component enables the probe to modulate the internal light source, achieving independent addressing and power ratio control of each pixel beam in the array. Based on the deep fusion of the optical path, the indicator light and the treatment light are completely synchronized and controlled at the underlying logic level, which can project a visible contour pattern on the skin surface 11 in real time that is highly consistent with the shape, size and internal mask cutout area of ​​the invisible treatment spot, significantly improving the accuracy of clinical positioning.

[0027] like Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the thermal management component includes thermally conductive material 7, water-cooled channel 6, and cold air nozzle 3.

[0028] The thermally conductive material 7 is disposed on the heating surface in close contact with the pixelated light-emitting array 8, and is a thermally conductive base made of copper, aluminum, or graphene-containing material. The water-cooling channel 6 forms a seamless thermal coupling with the side of the thermally conductive material 7 away from the heating surface. The liquid inlet and outlet of the water-cooling channel 6 extend to the outside of the housing for connection with an external water-cooling unit.

[0029] The cold air nozzle 3 is a single-sided slit structure, fixedly installed on the side of the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing facing the human tissue, and sealed to the air cooler through the air-cooling connection port 1. The spray direction of the cold air nozzle 3 is configured for small-angle wall-mounted spraying, and its spray centerline is strictly aligned with the tangential plane of the local skin surface 11. The slight angle between the two sides. The cooling airflow sweeps from one side of the light-emitting surface to the other, covering the entire projection area. The aerodynamic mechanism of this design lies in the velocity vector of the cooling airflow reaching the skin surface 11. It is decomposed at this slight angle, and its parallel sweep component Dominantly, a high-speed, wall-attached jet forms on the skin surface 11. Local convective heat transfer density. satisfy: in, The forced convection heat transfer coefficient is related to the swept wind speed and the height of the small angle (its value varies with the parallel swept component). (significantly improved by the increase in size) and These represent the transient temperature of the skin surface and the initial temperature of the cooling airflow, respectively.

[0030] Simulation and experiments prove that... The angled window maximizes the peeling efficiency of the epidermal thermal boundary layer while significantly reducing skin indentation and pressure caused by vertical impact dynamic pressure. Compared to traditional 90° direct blowing or wide-angle blowing solutions, the surface cooling uniformity and patient subjective comfort of this invention are significantly improved.

[0031] like Figure 4 As shown, the sensing and temperature control components include a binocular camera 10 and an infrared thermal imager 5, which are fixedly installed next to the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing. The binocular camera 10 is used to acquire in real time the three-dimensional topographic data of the skin surface 11 of the treatment area and the boundary contour information of the target tissue and non-target tissue; the infrared thermal imager 5 has a field of view covering the projection area of ​​the pixelated light-emitting array 8, and is used to acquire the global temperature distribution of the treatment area in real time.

[0032] like Figure 4 As shown, the control and communication chip 9 is fixedly installed in the internal cavity of the housing. It integrates a digital mask and target distance compensation module, a pixel-level temperature control module, and a hierarchical defense system module that links software and hardware. It is used to receive external commands and sensor data and drive various execution components. The input terminal of the digital mask and target distance compensation module is connected to the binocular camera 10. The binocular camera 10 acquires three-dimensional topographic data and optical images of the skin surface 11 in the treatment area in real time, and generates a Z-axis depth matrix. It identifies non-target tissue boundaries such as dark birthmarks, moles, or tattoos, natural anatomical structures such as the navel, and curved surfaces with distinct contour features such as the waist and mandibular border. Based on the identification results, it generates corresponding digital mask patterns: marking the luminous pixels corresponding to the boundary coordinates of the dark birthmarks, moles, or tattoos as "hollowed out" and turning them off; generating a "hollow ring" mask that avoids the navel and reducing the preset value of the outer ring energy density; based on... Figure 7 The curvature shown generates a shape that fits the waist or mandibular border curvature, as shown in the figure. Figure 6 The pattern shown is a crescent-shaped or inverted U-shaped stitched pattern; and three-dimensional layer compensation is performed, with the curved surface area based on the Z-axis depth matrix provided by the camera in real time. For coordinates The pixel unit performs dynamic power density correction, and the calculation formula for dynamic power density correction is: in, To correct the output power, For the measured actual target distance, As the reference output power, As the baseline treatment distance, The compensation coefficient is determined by the light emission divergence characteristics or calibration experiments. The angle between the central axis of the pixel beam and the 11-normal line of the local skin surface; The compensation result is subject to safety constraints; the safety constraint is: determining the corrected output power. Does it exceed the maximum output power limit per pixel? When the upper limit is exceeded, a local overall derating is triggered to strictly control the local energy density deviation within a preset safety threshold; when it is not exceeded, the corrected output power is directly used.

[0033] The pixel-level temperature control module acquires high-resolution local temperature state parameters through the global heat distribution mapping and heat conduction estimation model of the infrared thermal imager 5; based on the acquired local current temperature... With the target safe temperature Calculate real-time temperature deviation The formula is: in, This is the sequence number of the current control cycle; The discretized PID control algorithm is used to calculate the drive duty cycle adjustment. The formula is: in, The proportions were calibrated based on the thermodynamic response characteristics of the target skin tissue. The integral is calibrated based on the thermodynamic response characteristics of the target skin tissue. The differential gain coefficient is calibrated based on the thermodynamic response characteristics of the target skin tissue; The time interval for discretizing the control cycle. This is the sequence number of the previous control cycle. For the first Temperature deviation over one cycle; The calculated Superimposed on the current drive duty cycle Update the driving duty cycle and apply the updated driving duty cycle signal to the corresponding pixel or partition's light-emitting unit, so that it outputs light power according to the new duty cycle parameters, forming a closed-loop control. When the infrared thermal imager 5 detects an abnormal temperature gradient in a local tissue (such as local micro-overheating), the closed-loop mechanism can trigger a pixel-level shutdown, precisely extinguishing only a few light-emitting units corresponding to the abnormal area without affecting the overall treatment process. Through this closed-loop mechanism, the system can effectively suppress abnormal local heat accumulation, significantly reduce the risk of temperature overshoot, and improve the smoothness of temperature control.

[0034] The hierarchical defense system module that integrates software and hardware includes an array self-healing unit and a hardware emergency stop circuit.

[0035] The array self-healing unit accurately locates pixels that have physically failed by monitoring abnormal pixel drive current / voltage (or using photodiode feedback for light emission monitoring). And shut it down. Assume its original target energy is... The system in adjacent effective pixel sets In this process, normalized energy redistribution is performed based on spatial inverse distance weights: in, For the first The coordinates of the next few valid pixels, The target energy is updated for adjacent valid pixels. The original target energy of adjacent valid pixels, For the first The weighting coefficients of each adjacent valid pixel. The index of adjacent valid pixels. It is the sum of all weights. For summation index.

[0036] This compensation is strictly limited by the thermal safety margin of neighboring pixels and the upper limit of the compensation increment. If the safety margin is insufficient, the system will trigger a local derating instead of forcibly replenishing it, thus maintaining the continuity of the light spot while avoiding secondary local hot spots.

[0037] The hardware emergency stop circuit, completely independent of the main control MCU, is physically triggered when the system encounters extreme emergencies (such as global temperature exceeding the extreme safety threshold that endangers the human body, physical interruption of cooling water / airflow, or main control software crash). This circuit does not undergo any complex software calculations; it directly cuts off the laser's drive power from the underlying physical link (such as through the tripping of a safety relay) and forces the physical safety shutter to close.

[0038] like Figure 5 As shown, the working process of the programmable pixel array laser therapy probe of the present invention is as follows: 1. The probe is moved to the skin surface 11 via the robotic arm and the robotic arm connection port 2. Simultaneously, the external water-cooling unit is started, and coolant flows into the probe through the inlet of the water-cooling channel 6, and returns from the outlet after passing through the water-cooling channel 6, forming a circulating cooling loop. The external air cooler is started, and compressed gas enters the housing through the air-cooling connection port 1, and is delivered to the cold air nozzle 3 through the internal air pipe, preparing for surface cooling.

[0039] 2. The binocular camera 10 captures images of the target skin surface 11, forming a stereoscopic visual coverage of the skin surface 11; the infrared thermal imager 5 is activated simultaneously, and its field of view covers the pixelated projection area of ​​the light array 8, collecting the thermal radiation of the skin surface 11 in the treatment area in real time to obtain the global temperature distribution.

[0040] 3. Laser array 4 is powered on, generating a near-infrared therapeutic laser with a wavelength of 1064nm. The visible light indicator light source is powered on, generating visible indicator light with a wavelength of 532nm or 635nm to 660nm. The therapeutic laser and the indicator light are fused together in a coaxial optical path using a dichroic mirror or fiber combiner, combining them into a single coaxial beam. This beam propagates along the same optical path, ensuring that the indicator spot and the therapeutic spot are completely identical in geometry, size, and internal pattern.

[0041] 4. The combined beam is incident on the pixelated light output array 8. The pixelated light output array 8 is selected from DMD, LCoS, liquid crystal light valve, MEMS micro shutter array or fiber composite shutter. Taking DMD as an example, its surface is integrated with hundreds of thousands to millions of independently controllable micromirrors, each micromirror corresponding to a treatment pixel.

[0042] Each micromirror flips at high frequency according to the driving signal: when the micromirror flips to the "on" state, it reflects the incident light beam towards the light exit window, allowing the beam to be projected onto the skin surface 11; when the micromirror flips to the "off" state, it reflects the incident light beam towards the absorber inside the housing, preventing the beam from escaping. By adjusting the switching time ratio (i.e., the driving duty cycle) of each micromirror, independent control of the output energy of each pixel is achieved.

[0043] The modulated light beam is emitted from the light-emitting surface of the pixelated light-emitting array 8, passes through the light-emitting window at the front end of the housing, and is projected onto the target skin surface 11. The projected visible indicator light spot and the invisible treatment light spot are completely identical in shape, size, and internal mask pattern (such as hollow area, hollow ring, crescent shape, etc.).

[0044] 5. Heat dissipation and cooling: 5.1 Liquid Cooling: The pixelated light-emitting array 8 generates a large amount of heat during operation. A thermally conductive material 7 (made of copper, aluminum, or a graphene-containing material) is placed in close contact with the heat-generating surface of the pixelated light-emitting array 8 to absorb the heat. The side of the thermally conductive material 7 away from the heat-generating surface achieves seamless thermal coupling with the metal wall of the water-cooling channel 6 through thermally conductive grease, thermally conductive pads, or a solder layer. Heat is transferred to the water-cooling channel 6 through the thermally conductive material 7 and carried away by the circulating coolant.

[0045] 5.2 Air Cooling: Compressed gas is ejected from the slit nozzle of the cold air nozzle 3. The cold air nozzle 3 is a single-sided slit structure, fixedly installed on one of the upper, lower, left, or right edges of the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing. The angle between its spray centerline and the tangential plane of the local skin surface 11 is configured to be 5° to 15°. At this slight angle, the cooling airflow flows over the skin surface 11 in a wall-sweeping manner. The airflow velocity is decomposed into a parallel sweeping component and a vertical impact component, with the parallel sweeping component dominating. This forms a high-speed wall-sweeping jet on the skin surface 11, effectively stripping away the epidermal thermal boundary layer while greatly reducing skin depression and pressure caused by vertical impact dynamic pressure.

[0046] 6. Safety Protection Array self-healing: During probe operation, the system monitors the pixel drive current or voltage, or uses photodiode feedback to monitor light output, to sense the working status of each pixel in real time. When a physical failure is detected in a pixel (such as abnormal drive current causing the micromirrors to stop flipping), that pixel is turned off. The micromirrors of adjacent effective pixels correspondingly increase their flipping time ratio to compensate for the energy output lost by the failed pixel, maintaining the continuity and uniformity of the treatment spot. This compensation is limited by the thermal safety margin of neighboring pixels and the upper limit of the compensation increment. If the safety margin is insufficient, local derating is triggered instead of forced full compensation.

[0047] Hardware Emergency Stop: The probe has an internal hardware emergency stop loop that is completely independent of the main MCU software control path. This loop will activate in the event of any of the following extreme emergency situations: The internal temperature of the casing exceeds the extreme safety threshold that endangers the human body (physical switching of the global temperature switch). Physical interruption of coolant or cooling gas flow (physical switching of flow switch); The main control software crashed or malfunctioned (watchdog circuit timed out). This hardware emergency stop circuit does not involve any software calculations or logical judgments; it is entirely completed autonomously by the underlying physical link. Even if the main control MCU fails completely, the circuit can still function normally, forming the last insurmountable safety barrier.

[0048] Example 2 To further verify the synergistic effect between the micro-angle cold air nozzle and the programmable photothermal system described in this invention, the applicant conducted a verification experiment using an ex vivo pig skin tissue model.

[0049] 2.1 Experimental Setup Isolated porcine skin tissue was placed in a simulated physiological environment. The output power density of the probe described in this invention was set to 1.2 W / cm². 2 Continuous light emission intervention. At the same time, the cold air nozzles are activated to spray cooling airflow at a slight angle of 5°~15°.

[0050] 2.2 Temperature field measurement results Experimental data show that: (1) Under the strong convective heat transfer effect of the micro-angle wall-attached airflow, the temperature of the pig skin was strictly controlled within the safe threshold of 25°C, and no signs of thermal damage to the skin were observed. (2) At the same time, the temperature of the target area at a depth of 5 mm under the skin rises steadily and remains within the target treatment temperature range of 42°C to 50°C; (3) Under stable working conditions, the average temperature difference between the epidermal temperature and the subcutaneous target area temperature of 5 mm can reach 25℃, and a spatial thermal gradient of "internal heat and external cold" has been successfully established.

[0051] 2.3 Histological Analysis Results Microscopic morphological analysis showed that the intercellular spaces in the affected area underwent typical thermal coagulation degeneration, and lipid droplet fusion was observed in Oil Red O and H&E double-stained sections. The histological morphology was consistent with the expected thermal damage.

[0052] 2.4 Experimental Conclusions The above-mentioned quantitative temperature data and histopathological results fully demonstrate that the probe structure and its closed-loop temperature control logic described in this invention can effectively achieve controllable heating of the subcutaneous target area while ensuring the safety of the epidermis. This effectively solves the technical problems of traditional equipment, such as "easy burns in the superficial layer and difficulty in achieving the target in the deep layer", and realizes safe and controllable non-contact precision thermal deposition.

[0053] Therefore, the present invention employs the aforementioned programmable pixel array laser treatment probe, which, through the synergistic effect of optical engine components, thermal management components, sensing and temperature control components, and a graded safety protection system, achieves adaptive and precise treatment of complex human body surfaces, significantly improving the safety, uniformity, and clinical operability of the treatment, and has high practical value and promising prospects for promotion.

[0054] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and not to limit them. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can still be made to the technical solutions of the present invention, and these modifications or equivalent substitutions cannot cause the modified technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

Claims

1. A programmable pixel array laser therapy probe, characterized in that, Includes: housing assembly, optical engine assembly, thermal management assembly, sensing and temperature control assembly, and control and communication chip; The housing assembly includes a front light-emitting surface, a rear interface, and an internal receiving cavity; The optical engine assembly is disposed in the internal cavity and includes a laser array and a pixelated light-emitting array. The light-emitting surface of the pixelated light-emitting array faces the front light-emitting surface of the housing and is used to project the modulated light beam onto the target skin surface. The thermal management component includes a thermally conductive material disposed on the heating surface of the pixelated light-emitting array, a water-cooling channel thermally coupled to the thermally conductive material, and a cold air nozzle disposed on the side of the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing. The sensing and temperature control components include a binocular camera and an infrared thermal imager located next to the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing. The control and communication chip is located in the internal cavity and is connected to the optical engine assembly, thermal management assembly, and sensing and temperature control assembly.

2. The programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, A robotic arm connection port is fixedly provided on the rear interface for rigid connection with the end of the robotic arm; a cooling connection port is fixedly provided on the rear interface or the side wall of the housing for connecting a cooler.

3. The programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The optical engine assembly also includes a visible light indicator light source. The laser array, the visible light indicator light source, and the pixelated light output array are integrated with a system-level high-density package and a coaxial optical path. The laser array serves as a near-infrared therapeutic radiation source, using the 1064nm wavelength band. The visible light indicator light source uses a 532nm laser or a 635nm–660nm laser. Its output light and the output light of the laser array are integrated through a coaxial optical path and then enter the pixelated light output array together. The pixelated light output array is a spatial light modulator.

4. The programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thermally conductive material is a thermally conductive base made of copper, aluminum, or graphene-containing material, which is set in close contact with the heating surface of the pixelated light-emitting array; the water-cooling channel forms a seamless thermal coupling with the side of the thermally conductive material away from the heating surface, and its liquid inlet and outlet extend to the outside of the housing for connection with an external water-cooling unit.

5. A programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cold air nozzle has a single-sided slit structure and is fixedly installed on the side of the light-emitting surface at the front end of the housing facing the human tissue. It is sealed and connected to the air cooler through a cooling connection port. The angle between its spray centerline and the tangential plane of the local skin surface is [value missing]. It is used to form a wall-sweeping cooling airflow.

6. The programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The binocular camera is used to acquire in real time the three-dimensional morphological data of the skin surface in the treatment area and the boundary contour information of the target tissue and non-target tissue; the field of view of the infrared thermal imager covers the projection area of ​​the pixelated light-emitting array, and is used to acquire the global temperature distribution of the treatment area in real time.

7. A programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control and communication chip integrates a digital mask and target distance compensation module. The input of the digital mask and target distance compensation module is connected to the output of the binocular camera. The binocular camera acquires three-dimensional morphological data and optical images of the skin surface of the treatment area in real time, generates a Z-axis depth matrix, identifies non-target tissue boundaries, natural anatomical structures, and curved surfaces with obvious contour features, and performs three-dimensional level compensation. For curved surfaces, the output power of each pixel is compensated and corrected based on the actual target distance according to the Z-axis depth matrix provided by the camera in real time. The compensation result is subject to safety constraints.

8. A programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control and communication chip integrates a pixel-level temperature control module. The input end of the pixel-level temperature control module is connected to the output end of the infrared thermal imager. Through the global heat distribution mapping and heat conduction estimation model of the infrared thermal imager, high-resolution local temperature state quantities are obtained, and the real-time temperature deviation from the target safe temperature is calculated. The discretized PID control algorithm is used to calculate the drive duty cycle adjustment, which is then added to the current drive duty cycle. The driving duty cycle is updated and the updated driving duty cycle signal is applied to the light-emitting unit of the corresponding pixel or partition, so that it outputs light power according to the new duty cycle parameters, forming a closed-loop control; when the infrared thermal imager detects an abnormal gradient in the local tissue temperature, the closed-loop mechanism can trigger pixel-level shutdown.

9. A programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control and communication chip integrates a hierarchical defense system module that combines software and hardware. The hierarchical defense system module includes an array self-healing unit and a hardware emergency stop circuit. The array self-healing unit accurately locates and shuts down physically failed pixels by monitoring abnormal pixel driving current / voltage or by providing feedback from photodiodes that monitor light emission. When a failed pixel is detected in the pixelated light emission array, energy redistribution is performed.

10. A programmable pixel array laser therapy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that, The hardware emergency stop circuit is independent of the main control MCU inside the control and communication chip. When the system encounters an extreme emergency, the hardware emergency stop circuit does not go through any software calculations of the main control MCU, but directly cuts off the laser's driving power from the underlying physical link and forces the physical safety shutter to close.

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