Apparatus and methods for treating the skin

Abstract

An apparatus for treating skin has a console with a user input device and a handpiece assembly. The handpiece assembly is configured to treat skin. A fluid line provides fluid communication between the console and the handpiece assembly. A manifold system is coupled to the console and controlled by the user input device. The manifold system is configured to hold releasably a plurality of fluid sources and deliver fluid from at least one of the plurality of fluid sources to the handpiece assembly.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus summarized the general nature of the invention, certain preferred embodiments and modifications thereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description herein having reference to the figures that follow.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a skin treatment system.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of one embodiment of a handpiece assembly for use with the skin treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B is a side elevational view of the handpiece assembly of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the handpiece assembly of FIG. 2B. The handpiece assembly is engaging a person's skin.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a handpiece assembly.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of one embodiment of a tip that can be coupled to a main body of a handpiece assembly to treat a person's skin.

FIG. 5B is a top elevational view of the tip of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5C illustrates a bottom elevational view of the tip of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5D is a cross-sectional view of the tip of FIG. 5B taken along the line 5D-5D.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a tip in accordance with another embodiment.

FIG. 6B is a top elevational view of the tip of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6C is a bottom elevational view of the tip of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6D is a cross-sectional view of the tip of FIG. 6B taken along the line 6D-6D.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a tip in accordance with another embodiment.

FIG. 7B is a top elevational view of the tip of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7C is a bottom elevational view of the tip of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7D is a cross-sectional view of the tip of FIG. 7B taken along the line 7D-7D.

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of a tip for treating a person's skin.

FIG. 8B is a top elevational view of the tip of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 8C is a bottom elevational view of the tip of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 8D is a cross-sectional view of the tip of FIG. 8B taken along the line 8D-8D.

FIG. 9A is a perspective view of still another embodiment of a tip that can be coupled to a main body of a handpiece assembly.

FIG. 9B is a top elevational view of the tip of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 9C is a bottom elevational view of the tip of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 9D is a cross-sectional view of the tip of FIG. 9B taken along the line 9D-9D.

FIG. 10A is a perspective view of another embodiment of a tip for treating a person's skin.

FIG. 10B is top elevational view of the tip of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10C is bottom elevational view of the tip of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10D is a cross-sectional view of the tip of FIG. 10B taken along the line 10D-10D.

FIG. 10E is a perspective exploded view of the tip of FIG. 10A, wherein a pad is spaced from a tip main body.

FIGS. 11A-11E are cross-sectional views of inner members that can be used to exfoliate skin.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a bottle for use with the skin treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a bottle spaced from an insertion tip assembly.

FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional view of the bottle of FIG. 12A coupled with the insertion tip assembly.

FIG. 14A is a cross-sectional view of a closure and a bottle.

FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of the closure and bottle of FIG. 14A when assembled.

FIG. 15A is a perspective view of one embodiment of a manifold system holding a plurality of bottles.

FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view of the manifold system of FIG. 15A taken along the line 15B-15B of FIG. 15A.

FIG. 15C is a cross-sectional view of the manifold system of FIG. 15A taken along the line 15C-15C of FIG. 15A.

FIG. 15D is a cross-sectional view of the manifold system of FIG. 15C wherein the bottle has been removed.

FIG. 15E is a cross-sectional elevational view of the manifold system.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a skin treatment system.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a fluid line of the skin treatment system of FIG. 16 taken along the line 17-17.

FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of a handpiece assembly with a removable cartridge.

FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of the handpiece assembly and removable cartridge of FIG. 18, the cartridge is shown removed from the handpiece assembly.

Claims

1. An apparatus for treating skin, the apparatus comprising: a console having a user input device and a handpiece assembly, which is configured to treat skin;a fluid line providing fluid communication between the console and the handpiece assembly; anda manifold system coupled to the console and controlled by the user input device, the manifold system being configured to hold releasably a plurality of fluid sources and deliver fluid from at least one of the plurality of fluid sources to the handpiece assembly.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising insertion tip assemblies, each insertion tip assembly having an elongate member configured for insertion into a non-refillable bottle.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each elongate member is sufficiently rigid to break a seal of the non-refillable bottle.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the handpiece assembly outputs and draws in fluid when a tip of the handpiece assembly is pressed against a person's skin.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment comprises abrasion or ablation.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the abrasion is at least one selected from the group consisting of dermabrasion, microdermdermabrasion, hydro abrasion, and crystal-free microdermabrasion.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment is at least one selected from the group consisting of thermal stimulation, mechanical stimulation, electrical stimulation, and chemical stimulation.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the fluid line includes a delivery line that carries a fluid towards the handpiece assembly and the return line that carries the fluid away from the handpiece assembly.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the delivery line has a passageway that is larger than a passageway of the return line.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the handpiece assembly has a removable, disposable tip for treating skin.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the tip includes a plurality of abrasive features.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the plurality of skin removal features that include a spiral extending outwardly from a center region of the tip.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the plurality of abrasive features includes diamonds, molded posts, raised sharp areas, sharp planing blades, pad, or combinations thereof.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fluid sources includes a plurality of bottles.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein at least one of the plurality of fluid sources contains a treatment material and at least one of the fluid sources contains an antimicrobial agent.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the treatment material comprises at least one of a skin lightening agent, anti-aging agent, rejuvenator, and removal agent.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the removal agent comprises salicylic acid.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein at least one of the plurality of fluid sources contains an acid peel.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the manifold system includes a plurality of switches for terminating the flow of the treatment fluid from the plurality of bottles.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the manifold system includes a plurality of fluid pickup tubes each pickup tube is assigned to one of each of the plurality of bottles.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user input device is a computer.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the computer includes a touch screen adapted to input data into the computer.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the computer controls a flow of fluid from the plurality of fluid sources to the handpiece assembly.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the computer includes teaching tutorials.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the computer includes a plurality of interchangeable program chips.

26. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the handpiece assembly is a light handpiece adapted to illuminate the target with light from a light source.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the light source comprises red and infrared light emitting diodes.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the red and infrared light emitting diodes emit a wavelength within the range of about 600 to about 1,000 nanometers.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the light source comprises blue light emitting diodes.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the blue light emitting diodes emit a wavelength of about 430 nanometers.

31. A tip comprising: a skirt portion configured to couple to a handpiece for treating a target on a patient's skin;a central body portion coupled to the skirt portion;a first passage through the central body portion configured to receive a fluid from the handpiece;at least one second passageway through the central body portion configured to convey the fluid back into the handpiece; andan inner member extending in a generally spiral fashion across at least a portion of a distal face of the central body portion, the inner member defining a channel between the first passage and the at least one second passage.

32. The tip of claim 31, wherein the skirt portion includes a gripping surface for attaching the tip to the handpiece and removing the tip from the handpiece.

33. The tip of claim 31, wherein the inner member extends about the surface of the central body portion about one and a half times.

34. The tip of claim 31, wherein the inner member extends from about a center portion of the distal face of the central body portion at one end.

35. The tip of claim 31, wherein the inner member extends from about the center portion of the distal face of the central body portion at one end to near a lateral edge of the surface of the distal face at another end.

36. The tip of claim 31, wherein the outer member extends around the lateral edge of the central body portion.

37. The tip of claim 31, wherein the inner member is configured to abrade the skin.

38. The tip of claim 31, wherein the inner member is configured to ablate the skin.

39. The tip of claim 31, wherein the at least one second passage is configured to transmit debris into the handpiece assembly.

40. The tip of claim 31, wherein the tip is configured to apply negative pressure when the tip is in operative engagement with the target.

41. The tip of claim 31, wherein the central body portion further includes imbedded treatment material.

42. A method of treating a target on a patient's skin, the method comprising: providing a tip including a first aperture, at least one second aperture, at least one inner member on the surface of the tip defining at least one channel between the first aperture and the at least one second aperture, and an outer member on the surface of the tip;engaging the target with the tip;flowing a treatment fluid distally through the first aperture;flowing the treatment fluid through the at least one channel; andflowing the treatment fluid proximally through the at least one second aperture.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the at least one inner member defines a substantially spiral-shaped channel.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein engaging the target includes abrading the target with the at least one inner member.

45. The method of claim 42, wherein engaging the target includes ablating the target with the at least one inner member.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein engaging the target includes twisting the tip about a central axis.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein twisting the tip and flowing the treatment fluid through the channel include extracting material.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein materials include at least one of oil, sebum, blackheads.

49. The method of claim 42, wherein flowing the treatment fluid through the channel includes contacting the target with the treatment fluid for a detention period.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the treatment fluid hydrates the target.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein twisting the tip includes removing hydrated stratum corneum from the target.

52. The method of claim 42, further comprising flowing debris through the at least one second aperture.

53. The method of claim 42, further comprising applying a vacuum to the at least one second aperture.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein applying a vacuum to the at least one second aperture includes lifting the target towards the tip.

55. The method of claim 42, further comprising applying a treatment solid coupled to the tip to the target.

56. A tip comprising: a skirt portion configured to couple to a handpiece for treating a target on a patient's skin;a central body portion coupled to the skirt portion including a structure substantially opposite the skirt portion configured to receive a pad;a first aperture through the skirt portion and the central body portion configured to receive a fluid from the handpiece; andat least one second aperture through the skirt portion and the central body portion configured to convey the fluid back into the handpiece.

57. The tip of claim 56, further comprising a disposable pad coupled to the structure.

58. The tip of claim 57, wherein the pad includes a plurality of abrasive features.

59. The tip of claim 57, wherein the pad is configured to be detachable from the structure.

60. The tip of claim 57, wherein the pad includes apertures approximately corresponding to the first aperture and the at least one second aperture.

61. The tip of claim 57, further comprising an outer member surrounding the pad.

62. A method of treating a target region of skin, the method comprising: providing a tip including a first aperture, at least one second aperture, and a mounting surface configured to receive a pad;attaching a first pad to the mounting surface; andengaging the target region with the first pad on the tip.

63. The method of claim 62, further comprising: flowing a treatment fluid distally through the first aperture;flowing the treatment fluid across the first pad; andflowing the treatment fluid proximally through the at least one second aperture.

64. The method of claim 62, further comprising: removing the first pad from the mounting surface;attaching a second pad to the structure; andengaging the target with the tip including the second pad.

65. The method of claim 62, wherein engaging the target region with the tip includes abrading the target region with the first pad.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein the tip further includes an outer member substantially surrounding the mounting surface and configured to contain the treatment fluid within the tip.

67. The method of claim 63, wherein flowing the treatment fluid through the channel includes contacting the treatment fluid with the target region for a detention period.

68. The method of claim 63, wherein the treatment fluid hydrates the skin.

69. The method of claim 62, further comprising flowing debris through the at least one second aperture.

70. The method of claim 62, further comprising applying a vacuum to the at least one second aperture.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein applying a vacuum to the at least one second aperture lifts the target region towards the tip.

72. The method of claim 62, further comprising applying a treatment solid coupled to the tip to the target.

73. A method of treating a target on a patient's skin, the method comprising: engaging a dry tip with the patient's skin such that an effective amount of skin is removed by the tip; andafter removing an effective amount of skin with the dry tip, engaging a wet tip with the patient's skin such that an effective amount of skin is removed by the wet tip.

74. The method of claim 73, further comprising delivering an acid out of the wet tip to facilitate skin removal.

75. The method of claim 73, wherein the wet tip includes a first aperture, at least one second aperture, at least one inner member on the surface of the tip defining at least one channel between the first aperture and the at least one second aperture, and an outer member on the surface of the tip.

76. The method of claim 75, further comprising flowing a treatment fluid outwardly along the at least one channel.

77. The method of claim 75, further comprising flowing a treatment fluid inwardly along the at least one channel.

78. A method of treating a target on a patient's skin, the method comprising: engaging a first skin treatment tip with the target region of the patient's skin;apply a first material out of the first skin treatment tip to a target region of the patient's skin; andengaging a second skin treatment tip with the target region while the first material effectively facilitates exfoliation of the target region.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein the first material comprises an acid, hydrator, and combination thereof.

80. The method of claim 78, wherein the first skin treatment tip is configured to remove skin at a different rate than the second skin treatment tip.

81. The method of claim 78, wherein the first skin treatment tip is configured to remove skin at a higher rate than the second skin treatment tip.

82. The method of claim 78, further comprising delivering material out of the second treatment tip to the target region of the patient's skin.

83. A manifold system comprising: a body portion configured to releasably receive at least two bottles and configured to be coupled to a console, the console including a handpiece for treating skin;at least one elongate member in communication with a pump and configured to extract a fluid from one of the at least two bottles; andat least one switch configured to permit or inhibit a flow of the fluid from one of the at least two bottles through the pump.

84. The manifold system of claim 83, wherein the elongate member includes a lancing tip for breaking a seal of one or the bottles.

85. The manifold system of claim 83, wherein the body portion is configured to allow placement of the manifold system on more than one console without removing the at least two bottles.

86. The manifold system of claim 83, further comprising quick-release locks corresponding to each of the at least two bottles and configured to capture and release one of the at least two bottles.

87. The manifold system of claim 86, wherein the quick-release locks are configured to fasten a bottle to the manifold system upon reception of the bottle by the body portion and to release the bottle from the manifold system upon activation of a release mechanism.