Shallow Surface Cryotherapy Applicators for Air-Gap Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional non-invasive and invasive treatments for reducing adipose tissue are ineffective, costly, or risky, and fail to target specific regions due to limitations in cooling capability and potential for bruising and thermal damage.
Innovation Solution
The use of shallow surface applicators with airflow features that minimize air gaps between the applicator and skin, enabling efficient thermal contact through vacuum ports and air-egress channels to cool or heat targeted tissue, while maintaining comfort and avoiding complications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional non-invasive cooling devices are used to reduce adipose tissue, then cooling capability is provided, but air gaps between the device and skin reduce thermal contact efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes air from the treatment chamber using a vacuum system, eliminating the air gaps that insulate the cooling device from the skin. This direct extraction of the harmful medium (air) allows thermal energy to transfer efficiently from the cooling device to the adipose tissue without being blocked by air pockets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a vacuum (pneumatic) system to create negative pressure within the treatment chamber, causing the skin and underlying tissue to adhere to the cooling device surface. This pneumatic mechanism eliminates air gaps through pressure differential, ensuring optimal thermal contact between the cooling applicator and the tissue being treated.
2Loss of energy
If vacuum is applied to improve thermal contact, then tissue is pulled toward the cooling surface, but blood vessel rupturing and bruising may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different qualities to different regions: the cooling device surface provides uniform thermal contact, while the vacuum is applied at controlled levels only where needed to maintain tissue contact. The system creates localized adhesion between the skin and cooling surface without subjecting the entire tissue volume to excessive mechanical stress, thereby preventing blood vessel rupture while maintaining thermal efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent carefully controls and adjusts the vacuum pressure parameter within a safe range that is sufficient to eliminate air gaps and ensure thermal contact, but low enough to prevent blood vessel rupturing. By optimizing this parameter, the system achieves effective thermal coupling without causing bruising or tissue damage.
3Quantity of substance
If conventional treatments are used to reduce adipose tissue, then fat reduction is achieved, but selective targeting of lipid-rich cells without damaging non-lipid-rich cells is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies selective thermal treatment by maintaining the cooling surface at a temperature that is sufficiently low to damage lipid-rich adipose cells but not so low as to damage overlying non-lipid-rich skin cells. This selective temperature application allows differential effect on different tissue types based on their thermal sensitivity, achieving fat reduction while preserving healthy tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a cooling device that replicates the selective thermal damage effect seen in natural freezing processes, where lipid-rich cells are more susceptible to cold-induced damage than other cell types. By copying this natural selective vulnerability, the device achieves targeted adipose tissue destruction without collateral damage to surrounding healthy tissues.
4Productivity
If invasive procedures like liposuction are used, then effective adipose tissue removal is achieved, but high costs, long recovery times, and increased complication risks occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical surgical approach of liposuction (physical cutting and suction through incisions) with a thermal field-based non-invasive approach. Instead of mechanically disrupting and removing tissue through surgical instruments, the system uses controlled thermal fields to selectively damage adipose cells in situ, which are then naturally metabolized and eliminated by the body's lymphatic system, avoiding surgical recovery time and complications.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution allows for selective reduction of lipid-rich cells without damaging non-lipid-rich cells, providing effective and safe cosmetic and therapeutic outcomes by minimizing bruising and thermal damage.
Implementation Method 1
enabling efficient thermal contact through vacuum ports and air-egress channels to cool or heat targeted tissue
Implementation Method 2
vacuum ports and air-egress channels to cool or heat targeted tissue
Data Source
AI summary
Systems for treating a subject's tissue can include a thermally conductive cup with vacuum features configured to facilitate removal of air located between the cup and the subject's skin. The vacuum features can extend along cup to provide airflow paths to a vacuum port. The applicator can cool and/or heat the retained tissue to affect targeted tissue. After the treat period, the vacuum can be reduced or stop and the applicator can be removed from the subject.