Patent Application
20240341442
The present disclosure generally relates to a device for performing a treatment operation on skin of a subject, and in particular to the skin treatment operation in which the operation of the skin treatment device is controlled based on operating parameters.
For aesthetic or personal reasons, many people find it desirable to treat their skin by removing unwanted hair from various areas of the human body. Various techniques for removal of unwanted hair includes shaving, electrolysis, plucking, laser therapies and injection of therapeutic anti-androgens. Usually, unwanted hair is removed by plucking and various devices are adapted for such hair removing technique. However, such devices pose a fundamental drawback in that the plucking of the hair is painful. This limits widespread use of such devices, particularly for sensitive skin surfaces.
Considering the above, hair removal devices equipped with cooling function have evolved. Such hair removal devices are structed to cool the skin prior to removal of hair. However, such devices tend to excessively cool the skin, which dampens the skin and, thus results inefficient hair removal, which is undesired. Moreover, in typical skin treatment devices with integrated cooling mechanics, the cooling action can either be induced continuously or by initiation of the user. These options are relatively less efficient and/or effective. For example, a user/subject may be less sensitive to pain caused by mechanical epilation. In this case, a continuous or increased cooling of skin leads to an inefficient use of battery power. On the other hand, allowing the user/subject to manually control the function may lead to cases where cooling is not initiated when needed, resulting in reduced pain reduction.
Further, currently available hair removal devices require user to position the device over an area of skin, move the device to another area of skin, until the user or subject considers the portion of the skin has been adequately treated, with all components (such as cooling delivery components) of the hair removal device, being fully operational throughout the hair removal operation. The user/subject does not always operate the device with the correct speed. When used faster than the desired speed, the treatment can be incomplete. When used slower (e.g. repeatedly over the same area), the skin can overheat and cause irritation. As a result of this, users of the hair removal devices face difficulties in efficiently and effectively using such devices over large areas of the skin. These difficulties arise from a combination of relatively large area of skin to be treated, lack of information about correct usage of the hair removal device, lack of information on parameters of the skin subjected to treatment and recommended treatment time for specific location of the body. These user-dependent issues result in high variability in compliance, treatment time and ultimately treatment efficacy.
Present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or any other limitations associated with the devices known in art.
WO 2016/196915 A1 discloses a device for delivering fluid to a surface containing cells. In one embodiment, a fluid delivery device is provided that includes a housing, a fluid vaporizer disposed within the housing and configured to receive fluid and to produce an aerosol mist of liquid particles from the fluid, a trigger which triggers the fluid vaporizer and a pump configured to accelerate the aerosol mist produced by the fluid vaporizer.
EP 2 103 232 A1 discloses an epilator including a vaporizer unit 10 which vaporizes an application material 50. It may further include a cooling unit 13 or heating unit 12 which cools or warms the application material, to intensity its effect on skin.
It is an objective to provide a skin treatment device for performing treatment operation on skin by (automatically) controlling the cooling effect to the treated skin and/or controlling operational speed of a skin treatment tool, based on detected operating parameters, to enable the user to complete the treatment operation in an efficient and effective manner. It would be desirable to enable the skin treatment device to control the cooling effect and/or operational speed of the skin treatment tool based on operating parameters such as skin parameters (as non-limiting examples, temperature and humidity of the skin, and skin tone) and parameters of the skin treatment device (e.g., temperature of the skin treatment tool), for efficient operation of the skin treatment device. An effective way of cooling the skin is through aerosol generation. Although other methods such as Peltier cooling exist in the context of skin treatment devices, these are more expensive.
To better address one or more of these concerns, in a first aspect of the disclosure there is provided a skin treatment device. The skin treatment device includes an aerosol generating device and an operating parameter sensor. The aerosol generating device is arranged to generate and channelize an aerosol generated through a flow channel of the skin treatment device based on an operating parameter measured by the operating parameter sensor.
In an embodiment, the skin treatment device further includes a flow stream generating element, configured to generate a flow to further channelize the aerosol through the flow channel.
In an embodiment, the flow stream generating element is at least one of a blower and a suction fan.
In an embodiment, the flow channel is defined by spacings in a skin treatment tool of the skin treatment device.
In an embodiment, the aerosol generating device is coupled to a head of the skin treatment device.
In an embodiment, the operating parameter sensor is an optical sensor.
In an embodiment, the operating parameter sensor is configured to measure at least one of a skin parameter and a skin treatment device parameter.
In an embodiment, the skin parameter is at least one of temperature of skin, humidity of skin, and skin tone.
In an embodiment, the skin treatment device parameter is temperature, mechanical force and/or displacement of a skin treatment tool.
In an embodiment, the aerosol generating device is a piezo-electric device.
In an embodiment, the skin treatment device further includes a plurality of operating parameter sensors. Each of the plurality of operating parameter sensors are disposed on opposite sides relative to a longitudinal axis of the skin treatment tool.
In an embodiment, the skin treatment device includes a control unit communicatively coupled to the operating parameter sensor and the aerosol generating device. The control unit is configured to selectively control operation of the aerosol generating device and/or a skin treatment tool of the skin treatment device based on the operating parameter measured by the operating parameter sensor.
In an embodiment, the control unit is further communicatively coupled to a flow stream generating element and configured to actuate the flow stream generating element independent of the aerosol generating device based on humidity of the skin measured by the operating parameter sensor.
In an embodiment, the skin treatment device includes an indication unit communicatively coupled to a control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to generate an alert signal through the indication unit based on signals from the operating parameter sensor, and/or wherein the alert signal is at least one of an audio signal, a visual signal, an audio-visual signal, and a haptic signal.
The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
The invention is as set forth in the appended claims, while encompassing various modifications routine to the skilled person and claim equivalents. The disclosure itself, as well as a mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of the embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying exemplary drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
While embodiments in the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.
It is to be noted that a person skilled in the art would be motivated from the present disclosure and modify various features of a skin treatment device. Therefore, such modifications are part of the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings show only those specific details that are pertinent to understand the embodiments of the present disclosure, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skilled in the art having benefit of the description herein.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the disclosure, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusions, such that an assembly or unit that comprises a list of components does not include only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such device. In other words, one or more elements in an device proceeded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or device.
In the following detailed description, embodiments of the disclosure are explained with reference to accompanying figures that form a part hereof, and which are shown by way of illustration and specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
The skin treatment device (100) may broadly include a head (101) and a handle (102), which may be removably connected to each other. In an embodiment, the head (101) and handle (102) may be removably connected to each other by a connection means including but not limiting a threaded connection, a snap fit connection and the like. The handle (102) may be configured to accommodate various components including a power source such as a battery, a driving unit [not shown in Figs] such as but not limiting to an electric motor, driving circuitry, a user control (112) and the like. Further, the skin treatment device (100) may include a skin treatment tool (103) which may be coupled to the driving unit. The skin treatment tool (103) may be rotateably disposed in or on the head (101), such that the skin treatment tool (103) may be placed adjacent to or on (i.e., in contact with) the skin of the subject. In an embodiment, the skin treatment tool (103) may include a plurality of rotating elements, which may contact the skin to perform treatment operation, when the skin treatment device (100) is traversed on the skin to be treated. The rotating elements act as tweezers pinching and extracting hairs by their rotating motion. The plurality of rotating elements may be made of suitable material such as but not limiting to polymer and metal.
As seen in
The skin treatment device (100) may further include a flow channel (106), which may be coupled to the head (101). In some embodiments, the flow channel (106) may be sandwiched between the head (101) and the aerosol generating device (104) [as shown in
In an embodiment, the flow channel (106) may be defined by spacings in the skin treatment tool (103). That is, the flow channel (106) may be defined by spacings between the rotating elements of the skin treatment tool (103). The spacings may allow flow of the aerosol out of the skin treatment device (100) [thus, the head (101) of the skin treatment device (100)] and onto the skin, hence also serving as said further outlet. In this embodiment, the outlet of the aerosol generating device (104) may be positioned in fluid communication with the head (101). The aerosol exiting through the outlet of the aerosol generating device (104) may enter into the head (101), which may be then channelized through the spacings defined between the rotating elements of the skin treatment tool (103), onto the skin.
In an embodiment, the aerosol generating device (104) may be but not limiting to a piezo-electric device. The piezo-electric device may generate ultra-fine and high-volume mist or vapour particles from the fluid entering from the reservoir. The ultra fine mist or vapour generated by the piezo-electric device may be easily channelized out of the skin treatment device (100), thus facilitate effective cooling to the treated skin. The ultra-fine particle size of aerosols generated by the piezo-electric device further helps cool the skin without dampening it.
Referring to
Turning now to
In an embodiment the operating parameter sensor (107) may include one or more temperature sensors for measuring temperature of the skin and/or temperature of the skin treatment tool (103), before and after treatment of the skin. In an illustrated embodiment, as seen in
In other embodiments, the skin parameter may be an optical property of the skin, for example an optical property of the skin that changes in response to incident energy pulses. The optical property could be, e.g., scattering, reflectance, etc., and each operating parameter sensor (107) may be an optical sensor, which may be positioned on or in the head (101). The optical sensor may be configured to measure light reflected or scattered from the skin. In some embodiments, the optical sensors may be disposed on or in the head (101) along with an optical guide such as a mirror or a prism. The optical sensors may emit light into or onto the skin, with the optical guide, guiding the light emitted onto the skin. Further, the optical sensor measures the reflection or scattering of that light. Those skilled in the art will be aware of various techniques that can be used to measure the optical properties of the skin, including, for example, hyperspectral imaging, polarisation imaging and speckle imaging.
In other embodiments, the skin parameter may be an acoustic property of the skin, for example an acoustic property of the skin that changes in response to incident energy pulses. The acoustic property may be, e.g., acoustic impedance, speed of sound, etc., and the operating parameter sensor (107) may be an acoustic sensor, for example an ultrasound sensor. In some embodiments, the operating parameter sensor (107) may include a sound source for emitting sound into the skin, with the acoustic sensors measuring the sound to determine the acoustic skin property.
In other embodiments, the skin parameter may be an electrical property of the skin, for example an electrical property of the skin that changes in response to incident energy pulses. The electrical property could be, e.g., radio frequency (RF) impedance, capacitance, etc., and each operating parameter sensor (107) may be an RF sensor, an impedance sensor, or a capacitance sensor.
In another embodiment, the operating parameter sensor (107) includes one or more humidity sensors, which may be disposed in or on the head (101). The one or more humidity sensors may be configured to measure humidity of the skin, in particular surface humidity of the skin, as said skin parameter. As an example, the humidity sensors may be but not limiting to capacitive humidity sensor, resistive humidity sensor and thermal conductivity humidity sensor.
In other embodiments, the skin treatment device parameter may relate to force or tension exerted by the head (101) on the skin, or the distance moved by the head (101) and correspondingly time taken to complete the treatment action.
In an embodiment, the skin treatment device (100) may further include additional components to those illustrated in
Turning now to
In an embodiment, “controlling operation” may correspond to adjusting operational capacity of at least one of the aerosol generating device (104), the flow stream generating element (105) and the skin treatment tool (103), depending on the determined operating parameters.
For example, the control unit (108) or the corresponding method obtains a difference of the sensor output signals of sensors 107-1 and 107-2 to calculate an increase in a skin parameter/skin treatment device parameter due to the treatment. Based on comparing the increase to a predetermined value, the control unit (108) may transmit a trigger signal to control the action of at least one of the aerosol generating device (104), the flow stream generating element (105) and the skin treatment tool (103). In case of implementing a single operational parameter sensor, an operational parameter measurement taken after treatment can be compared to a stored pre-treatment reference value.
In an embodiment, the control unit (108) or the corresponding method controls the action of the aerosol generating device (104) by transmitting a trigger signal to activate it, with or without activating the flow stream generating element (105). In another embodiment, the control unit (108) controls the action of the flow stream generating element (105) by transmitting a trigger signal to activate it, with or without activating the aerosol generating device (104). For example, for smaller difference above threshold, it suffices to induce the dry cooling action facilitated by the flow stream generating element (105). An activation of the flow stream generating element (105) independent of the aerosol generating device (104) further helps conserve battery power.
Correspondingly, if the increase is determined to be less than the predetermined threshold, the control unit (108) controls the action of the aerosol generating device (104) by transmitting a trigger signal to stop or reduce the aerosol generating device (104) and/or the flow stream generating element (105).
In an embodiment, the control unit (108) or the corresponding method controls the action of the skin treatment tool (103) by transmitting a trigger signal to adjust (increase or decrease) the rotational speed and/or the force imparted by the skin treatment tool, e.g., by clamping elements disposed therein, in the case of a mechanical epilator. In an embodiment, the control unit (108) or the corresponding method provides an indication to the user to manually adjust a treatment application parameter such as force or speed of operation.
The control unit (108) may be implemented in several ways, with software and/or a hardware, to perform the various functions described herein. The control unit (108) may include one or more microprocessors or digital signal processor (DSPs) that may be programmed using software or computer program code to perform the required functions and/or to control components of the control unit (108) to perform the required functions. The control unit (108) may be implemented as a combination of dedicated hardware to perform some functions (e.g., amplifiers, preamplifiers, analog-to-digital convertors (ADCs) and/or digital-to-analog convertors (DACs)) and a processor (e.g., one or more programmed microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, DSPs, and associated circuitry) to perform other functions. Examples of components that may be employed in various embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, conventional microprocessors, DSPs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
Referring to
In an embodiment, the memory unit (114) may store data, information and/or signals for use by the control unit (108) in controlling the operation of the skin treatment device (100) [thus, controlling the aerosol generating device (104)], the flow stream generating element (105) and the skin treatment tool (103) and/or in executing or performing the operations described herein. In some implementations the memory unit (114) stores computer-readable code that can be executed by the control unit (108) so that the control unit (108) performs one or more functions, including the operations described herein. The memory unit (114) may include any type of non-transitory machine-readable medium, such as cache or system memory including volatile and non-volatile computer memory such as random access memory (RAM) static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM) and electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), implemented in the form of a memory chip, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a Blu-Ray disc), a hard disk, a tape storage solution, or a solid state device, including a memory stick, a solid state drive (SSD), a memory card, etc.
In an embodiment, the MCU (110) and the output signal processing unit (111) may output a user indicator signal that indicates the status of the treatment operation to the user (or subject), for example indicating whether the skin treatment operation is efficient, based on operating parameter determined by the operating parameter sensor (107). The user indicator signal may be used to control or drive a user interface component, such as a light, display screen, loudspeaker or haptic/tactile (e.g., vibrating) element. The indication signal generated by the control unit (108) may correspond to the skin treatment device (100) being pushed hard against the skin or the skin treatment device (100) being not displaced/moved over the skin at prescribed speed, which results in generation of heat, thereby increasing temperature or changing other properties of the skin causing inconvenience to the subject and decreasing operating efficiency of the skin treatment device (100).
In an operational embodiment, i.e., during use of the skin treatment device (100) for performing skin treatment such as hair removal or hair reduction, the skin treatment device (100) may be traversed on the skin, with the skin treatment tool (103) contacting the skin. The operational embodiment hereinafter is described considering skin temperature to be the operating parameter. However, the same cannot be construed as a limitation since, the operation skin treatment operation may be performed considering other operating parameters of skin such as optical property, acoustic property, and electric property of the skin before and after the treatment. While traversing the skin treatment device (100) relative to skin of the subject, the operating parameter sensor (107) (i.e., skin temperature determining sensors) may determine temperature of the skin prior to skin treatment and temperature of the skin after subjecting to skin treatment and generate a first signal. The first signal may be received by the input signal processing unit (109), which may convert the signals into suitable form as described above. The converted signals may be fed into the MCU (110), which may analyse the signals to determine a difference in temperature of the skin before and after the skin treatment. Further, upon analysing the difference in temperature of the skin, the control unit (108) may compare the determined value with the predetermined value stored in the memory unit (114). Upon comparison, if the difference in temperature exceeds beyond a predetermined threshold value, the MCU (110) may generate a signal, which may be fed into the output signal processing unit (111). This signal may correspond to controlling operation of the aerosol generating device (104) and the flow stream generating element (105), and controlling rotational speed (i.e., RPM) of the skin treatment tool (103) in one or more manners described above. In particular, the signal fed into the output signal processing unit (111) may correspond to interrupting or varying voltage supply to the aerosol generating device (104), the flow stream generating element (105) and the skin treatment tool (103), for controlling operation of the aerosol generating device (104), the flow stream generating element (105) and the skin treatment tool (103). Such a configuration of the skin treatment device (100), where the operation of the skin treatment device (100) is controlled based on operating parameters determined by the operating parameter sensor (107), aids in increasing operational efficiency (i.e., longer operational time) of the skin treatment device (100).
In an embodiment, if the difference in temperature of the skin before and after skin treatment is within the threshold limit, the skin treatment may further operate under normal operating conditions. Normal operating conditions may infer to the aerosol generating device (104), the flow stream generating element (105) and the skin treatment tool (103) being operated in accordance to their capacity.
In some embodiments, the input signal processing unit (109) may also receive second signals from the humidity sensors. The MCU (110) may analyse the second signal and if the value of the second signal exceeds the threshold value, the output signal processing unit (111) may generate a signal, which may correspond to activating the flow stream generating element (105), independent to the aerosol generating device (104). Here, the output signal processing unit (111) may generate a signal to reduce or stop the action of the aerosol generating device (104). Activating the flow stream generating element (105), aids in reducing the humidity by forcing dry air onto the skin, which may further aid in efficient skin treatment, as excess humidity may cause damping of skin and leading to inefficient skin treatment.
In some embodiments, the control unit (108) may determine feedback for the user on the use of the skin treatment device (100) based on the determined information on the speed and/or displacement of the skin treatment device (100). The feedback may be, for example, that the user should move the skin treatment device (100) more quickly or reduce pushing force onto the skin, to improve the efficiency of the overall treatment operation.
With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited tom” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited tom” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances, where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.” While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope being indicated by the following claims. For example, although the example of hair removal is described in the description, the present invention may be applied to other kinds of skin treatment which may benefit from skin cooling-such as hair coloring, tattooing, skin rejuvenation, skin cell regeneration etc.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21192008.7 | Aug 2021 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/072297 | 8/9/2022 | WO |
