This invention relates to an apparatus and method for applying transversal ultrasound waves to a patient's skin in order to damage and/or destroy adipocytes located under the dermis of the patient's skin.
Procedures currently exist for removing fat cells under the skin, whereby those fat cells or adipose cells are also commonly referred to as “adipocytes.” One such procedure ruptures adipocytes using longitudinal ultrasound waves, whereby ultrasound waves are applied to adipose tissue beneath the skin surface (the dermis). The ultrasound waves rupture the adipocytes in the adipose tissue under the skin surface, causing necrosis, which can cause extensive collateral damage to other non-fat tissue (e.g., blood vessels, connective tissue, dermis, etc.).
U.S. Pat. No. 8,579,835 to Britva et al. describes an improved fat cell killing apparatus and method, which applies both transverse ultrasound waves and longitudinal ultrasound waves to a patient's skin. Britva uses a sonotrobe to apply the transverse ultrasound waves and longitudinal ultrasound waves to a patient's skin, whereby the sonotrobe has a curved distal portion having a plurality of undulations or ridges provided along the curved distal portion, for application of transverse ultrasound waves to a patient's skin.
Britva describes applying longitudinal ultrasound waves to a patient's skin during a hot mode of operation, and to apply transverse ultrasound waves to the patient's skin during a cold mode of operation, in order to enhance the destruction of adipocytes under the skin surface. Britva describes that adipocytes typically die within three days after treatment of a patient's skin with both transverse ultrasound waves and longitudinal ultrasound waves.
Britva describes the use of two resonant frequencies: a) a cold mode resonant frequency of about 69 kHz, and b) a hot mode resonant frequency of about 60 kHz. During operation in the cold mode, Britva's sonotrobe applies ultrasound vibrations in the distal portion of his sonotrobe primarily in a direction substantially perpendicular to the elongate neck axis (e.g., the longitudinal axis) of the sonotrobe, and whereby a transverse mechanical standing wave is generated in the distal portion of his sonotrobe by way of ridges that convert longitudinal waves to transverse waves, for application to the patient's skin. During operation in the hot mode, Britva's sonotrobe applies ultrasound vibrations in the distal portion of his sonotrobe primarily in a direction substantially parallel to the elongate neck axis of the sonotrobe, and whereby a longitudinal mechanical standing wave is generated in the distal portion of his sonotrobe.
Britva goes on to describe that application of ultrasound waves in the cold mode and the hot mode provides for good results regarding destruction of adipocytes under the skin surface.
Britva's ultrasound generator housed within a proximal part of his sonotrobe only outputs longitudinal waves, for which some of those waves are converted to transverse waves by way of the complex structure of his distal curved portion with plural ridges or undulations (as shown in
One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a apparatus for treating adipose tissue located beneath a patient's skin. The apparatus includes a main body portion that houses an ultrasound transducer, in which the main body portion is provided at a proximal end of the apparatus furthest from the patient's skin when the patient is being treated with the apparatus. The apparatus further includes a semisphere portion provided at a distal end of the apparatus and that is configured to contact the patient's skin when the patient is being treated with the apparatus. The apparatus further includes an intermediate portion provided between the main body portion and the semisphere portion, in which the intermediate portion is disposed substantially perpendicular to the main body portion such that a main axis of the main body portion is provided along a first plane substantially parallel to a second plane corresponding to a surface of the patient's skin being treated with the apparatus, and such that a main axis of the intermediate portion is provided along a third plane substantially perpendicular to the second plane. The ultrasound transducer is configured to vibrate along the first plane and to thereby cause the semisphere portion to vibrate substantially parallel to the patient's skin due to a connector provided within the intermediate portion that connects the ultrasound transducer to the semisphere. This results in transverse ultrasound waves being applied to the patient's skin by way of the apparatus, which results in destruction and/or damage to adipocytes located beneath a dermis of the patient's skin.
Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a method for treating adipose tissue located beneath a patient's skin. The method includes outputting transverse ultrasound vibrations from an ultrasound transducer provided in a proximal end of the probe to a first end of a connecting rod. The method also includes providing the transverse ultrasound vibrations from the first end of the connecting rod to a second end of the connecting rod that is connected to a semisphere portion located at a distal end of the probe. The transverse ultrasound vibrations are configured to be applied to the patient's skin by contacting the semisphere portion of the probe to the patient's skin.
The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
The present specification is directed to an apparatus and method for applying transversal ultrasound waves to a patient's skin in order to damage and/or destroy adipocytes located under the dermis of the patient's skin.
According to one or more embodiments, a probe provides transverse ultrasound vibrations to a patient's skin, whereby those transverse ultrasound vibrations impinge on the skin surface substantially parallel to the skin surface, and enter into the skin surface a predetermined depth, such as 20-40 mm before being substantially attenuated, so as to damage and/or destroy adipose cells within a certain range (e.g., 0.01 to 40 mm) under the skin surface.
Referring now to
In one embodiment, the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100 has a radius of 20 mm, so that transverse ultrasound vibrations are applied to a depth of 20 mm by way of pressing the semisphere portion of the probe 100 against the patient's skin during treatment of the patient's skin to damage and/or destroy adipose cells underneath the patient's skin.
In some embodiments, the strength of the transverse ultrasound vibrations is strong enough such that adipose cells located within a range up to 40 mm beneath the patient's skin are damaged and/or destroyed when subjected to those transverse ultrasound vibrations.
By providing an apparatus for directly applying transverse ultrasound waves output from an ultrasound transducer provided within a probe to a patient's skin, a less complex, easier-to-manufacture, and less-susceptible-to-malfunction probe than what is described in the Britva patent is obtained, and whereby the inventor of this application has determined that supplying only transverse ultrasound waves to a patient's skin provides a better effect than applying both transverse and longitudinal ultrasound waves at a same time period or at consecutive time periods.
Also, by utilizing a semisphere portion having a smooth outer surface at a distal end of the probe, whereby no ridges or undulations are provided on the outer surface of the semisphere portion (in contrast to the structure of Britva), a smoother treatment effect can be obtained, whereby the semisphere portion can easily glide over a portion of the patient's skin to be treated to damage and/or destroy adipose cells located beneath that portion of the patient's skin. Also, since there is no need to have a complex-shaped distal portion of the probe as required in Britva's structure to convert longitudinal vibrations to transverse vibrations, an easier-to-manufacture probe can be obtained, and as stated above, a more pleasant effect can be obtained during treatment of a patient's skin due to the smooth (e.g., non-undulating and non-ridged) shape of the semisphere portion of the probe that is in direct contact with the patient's skin.
The probe 100 of
The ultrasound transducer is configured to vibrate along the first plane 140 and to thereby cause the semisphere portion 110 to vibrate substantially parallel to the patient's skin due to a connector provided within the intermediate portion that connects the ultrasound transducer to the semisphere. This results in transverse ultrasound waves being applied to the patient's skin by way of the probe 100, which results in destruction and/or damage to adipocytes located beneath a dermis of the patient's skin.
With reference to
The transverse ultrasound vibrations output from the ultrasound transducer are transferred to the semisphere portion of the probe by way of a metal plate, or connector rod 130, as shown in
In some embodiments, to maintain as lightweight a construction as possible, the connector rod 130 has many holes provided along its main axis, as does the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100. Also, due to the fact that the speed of ultrasound vibrations traveling on metal, such as aluminum, is about five (5) times the speed of ultrasound waves traveling on a patient's skin, the metal connector rod 130 can be considered to be rigid as compared to the patient's skin. This is also the case with respect to the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100 that is connected to the connector rod 130, which can also be considered to be rigid with respect to the patient's skin. Due to the holes provided along the connector rod 130 and along the outer surface of the semisphere portion 110, the connector rod/semisphere structure has a mass weight less than the mass weight of the skin that it is to drive with transverse ultrasound vibrations. This provides an optimal way to apply transverse ultrasound vibrations to the patient's skin, so as to achieve a good effect for damaging and/or destroying adipose cells under the patient's skin (e.g., between 2 to 40 mm under the dermis of the skin). The holes provided on the outer surface of the semisphere portion 110 may be in the range of from 0.01 to 0.1 mm, so that they do not cause any discomfort when the semisphere portion 110 is slid over a portion of the patient's skin to be treated by way of the probe 100.
Due to the semisphere portion 110 having a radius of 20 mm in some embodiments, the first 20 mm under the patient's skin are subject to the transverse ultrasound vibrations as the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100 is pressed against the patient's skin 400, as shown in
In other embodiments, the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100 has a different size, such as between 15 mm to 25 mm, whereby similar positive effects by damaging and destroying adipocytes under the skin surface are obtained for such structures.
By having a smooth shaped semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100 that is in direct contact with a skin surface to the treated, a good massaging effect can be obtained to the patient at the same time adipose cells are damaged and destroyed beneath the patient's skin. This dual benefit provides for a pleasant treatment experience for removing fat cells underneath a patient's skin. In some embodiments, an oil-based gel or other type of lubricating gel may be applied to the semisphere portion across the patient's skin. For example, in some embodiments, a gel-holding region within the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100 may be included in some embodiments, whereby gel is output from the gel-holding region and through holes on the exterior housing of the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100, and thereby onto the patient's skin, to enhance the movement of the semisphere portion 110 of the probe on the patient's skin during treatment of the patient. Actuation of a trigger (not shown in the drawings) on the probe 100 by a user of the probe 100 causes expelling of the gel from the gel-holding region, through the holes of the semisphere portion 110 of the probe 100, and thereby onto the patient's skin.
In some embodiments, the probe 100 has its own power supply (not shown in the drawings), such as a battery pack, and in other embodiments, the probe is configured to have an electrical cord that can be connected to an electrical output, to provide the necessary power to the components within the probe 100.
In some embodiments, the transverse ultrasound vibrations are provided in pulses of energy to the patient's skin, such as at a 20% duty cycle. Thus, for an output power of 20-35 watts/cm2 output by the ultrasound transducer, the average power applied to the patient's skin at a 20-50% duty cycle is about 1-7 watts/cm2, thereby providing a power flux to the patient's skin of 1-7 watts/cm2, which does not cause much if any discomfort to the patient during treatment of the patient's skin.
In some embodiments, the ultrasound frequency of the transverse ultrasound vibrations is 32 kHz, and in other embodiments the ultrasound frequency of the transverse ultrasound vibrations is a frequency in the range of from 28-60 kHz.
Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results.