Patent Application
20160136363
The invention generally relates to medical devices and procedures, and more particularly to systems and methods of administering repeated injections.
Subcutaneous and intramuscular administration of a botulinum toxin is used for treating various diseases and for cosmetic applications. Typically, a syringe or a needleless device is used to inject the botulinum toxin to the dermal or subdermal target tissue. For some diseases, such as neuralgia, multiple injections of the botulinum toxin can be required over a relatively small area of the skin. Multiple injections are carried out to achieve a desired distribution and therapeutic diffusion of the botulinum toxin into the target area, as opposed to making only one or a few injections.
Injection therapy is commonly carried out over a number of discrete procedures that may be separated by weeks or months. In one exemplary scenario, a patient indicates that the previous injection treatment was highly satisfactory and requests that the provider “do what you did last time,” which essentially is a request to administer the injections of the current procedure in the exact same locations as the injections of the previous procedure. However, it is very difficult if not impossible for the provider to administer the injections in the exact same locations as they were administered in the previous office visit. This is because the provider is essentially going from memory as to where they administered the injections in the previous visit. As a result, it is nearly impossible to precisely repeat the same injections in the same locations from one injection treatment procedure to the next.
In a first aspect of the invention, there is a targeted injection therapy system comprising an imager that is configured to: capture an image of a subject; display the image; receive input from a user defining at least one mark superimposed on the image; save the image and the at least one mark as a modified image. The system also comprises a projector that is configured to receive the modified image from the imager and visually project the modified image onto the subject. The at least one mark comprises an injection guide.
In another aspect of the invention, there is a method of providing a targeted injection therapy system. The method includes providing a projector and a software program, wherein the software program is configured to be stored in a hardware memory of an imager and, when executed by a processor of the imager, cause the imager to: capture an image of a subject; display the image; receive input from a user defining at least one mark superimposed on the image; save the image and the at least one mark as a modified image. The projector is configured to receive the modified image from the imager and visually project the modified image onto the subject. The at least one mark comprises an injection guide.
In another aspect of the invention, there is a method of targeted injection, comprising: capturing an image of a subject; displaying the image on a touch screen display; providing input to the touch screen display, wherein the input generates at least one mark superimposed on the image; saving the image and the at least one mark as a modified image; projecting the modified image onto the subject; and administering an injection to the subject where the at least one mark is projected on the subject.
The present invention is described in the detailed description which follows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way of non-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
The particulars shown herein are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the present invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the present invention in more detail than is necessary for the fundamental understanding of the present invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the present invention may be embodied in practice.
The invention generally relates to medical devices and procedures, and more particularly to systems and methods of administering repeated injections. A system according to aspects of the invention is structured and arranged to capture an image of a subject, receive modifications of the image including visual injection guides, and project the visual injection guides onto the subject. The provider administering an injection therapy to the subject may use the projected visual injection guides to precisely locate where to administer the injections on the subject. In embodiments, the system is configured to store the image and visual injection guides, and to project at least the visual injection guides onto the subject at a subsequent injection therapy procedure at a later date. In this manner, the system may be used to repeatedly guide the administration of injections on the subject at the same locations at different dates. Implementations of the invention thus facilitate providing reproducible results for the subject undergoing the injection therapy, which improves patient satisfaction with treatment and improves safety.
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In embodiments, the imager 10 is programmed to permit the user to define and selectively change the text that appears next to each indicator 120-120′″ in the legend 115, such that the user may customize the legend 115 to define a desired injection therapy. For example, the display 100 may show an options tab or button that the user selects to enter a temporary interface in which the user types the text associated with one or more of the indicators of the legend 115. The imager 10 may also be programmed to permit the user to define the number of types of marks. The imager 10 may also be programmed to permit the user to define at least one of a shape, a size, and a color of each type of mark. For example, the imager 10 may be programmed to display an interactive settings screen that permits the user to define these and other aspects. In embodiments, each one of the plurality of types of marks has a unique combination of color, size, and shape relative to other ones of the plurality of types of marks.
In additional embodiments, the legend 115 is interactively usable by the user to select which type of mark to place on the image 105. For example, the imager 10 may be programmed such that the user may select a respective type of mark 110-110′″ by touching (e.g., with their finger on the display 100) a predefined area of the legend 115 associated with a respective indicator 120-120′″. For example, the imager 10 may be programmed such that the user may select the first type of mark 110 by touching an area of the display 100 associated with the first indicator 120. After the user touches the area associated with the first indicator 120, the imager 10 superimposes a first type of mark 110 on the image 105 at each location where the user touches the display 100. The user may subsequently select the second type of mark 110′ by touching another portion of the display 100 associated with the second indicator 120′, after which the imager 10 superimposes the second type of mark 110 on the image 105 at each location where the user touches the display 100. In this manner, the user may select any one of the types of marks 110-110′″ via the legend 115 and then place an instance of the selected mark on the image 105 by touching the display at the desired location on the image 105.
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A method according to aspects of the invention may include, for example: capturing an image of a subject using an imager; displaying the image on a visual display of the imager; receiving input from a user defining at least one mark superimposed on the image; saving the image and the at least one mark as a modified image; communicating the modified image to a projector; visually projecting the modified image onto the subject; and administering an injection to the subject at a location where the at least one mark of the modified image is projected onto the subject. The method may also include aligning the projected modified image with the subject, wherein the aligning includes aligning at least one alignment mark of the projected modified image with a physical alignment mark. The receiving input from the user defining the at least one mark may include receiving a selection of one type of mark from a plurality of different types of marks. The method may include displaying the plurality of different types of marks on the visual display of the imager, and the receiving the selection may include receiving an input associated with one of the displayed plurality of different types of marks.
Additional aspects of the invention include a method comprising providing a system comprising the imager 10 and the projector 15, in which the imager 10 is configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., capturing an image of a subject; displaying the image on a visual display; receiving input from a user defining at least one mark superimposed on the image; saving the image and the at least one mark as a modified image; communicating the modified image to a projector).
Additional aspects of the invention include a method comprising providing a software program that is configured to be stored in hardware memory of an imager 10 and that, when executed by a processor of the imager 10, causes the imager 10 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., capturing an image of a subject; displaying the image on a visual display; receiving input from a user defining at least one mark superimposed on the image; saving the image and the at least one mark as a modified image; communicating the modified image to a projector). The software program may be, for example, an app that is stored and executed on an iPad® to perform the functions described herein. The method may include: storing a copy of the app at a remote computer device (e.g., a server computer device comprising at least a processor and a hardware memory, such as that used in an app store); receiving, at the remote computer device, a request for the app from a requesting device (e.g., from the imager 10 via network communication); and transmitting, by the remote computer device, a copy of the app to the requesting device.
Additional aspects of the invention include a method of providing a targeted injection system comprising: providing the projector 15 and the software program that is configured to be stored in hardware memory of an imager 10 and that, when executed by a processor of the imager 10, causes the imager 10 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., capturing an image of a subject; displaying the image on a visual display; receiving input from a user defining at least one mark superimposed on the image; saving the image and the at least one mark as a modified image; communicating the modified image to a projector). In this implementation, the user already owns the imager, e.g., an iPad®. A vendor sells the projector to be operatively connected to the imager, and a copy of the software program to be installed on the imager.
Even further aspects of the invention include providing instructions for using the imager 10 in the manner described herein. The instructions may be at least one of printed and video.
Implementations of the invention may be used to provide accuracy and repeatability in administering injections to a subject. Aspects may be used to provide targeted treatment of: brow lines, glabella furrows, crows feet, nasojugal folds, nasolabial folds, marionette lines, chin line, and platysmal bands. Implementations of the invention are not limited to use with the face of a subject, and instead may be used on any part of a subject. Aspects described herein permit the provider to reproduce injections over multiple visits and/or alter injection habits in order to maximize the subject results. Aspects described herein also provide the ability to add alterations of treatments, such as touch ups, bruises, complications, etc., to the picture of the subject. As described herein, implementations of the invention provide the ability to access a saved image and treatment guide that was given to the subject at a prior date, and to re-project that same image and treatment guide onto the subject to administer injections in the exact same locations as the previous visit. In embodiments, the imager is configured to save plural images of a single subject, e.g., in a subject file, and to permit the user to search and view the stored images to identify good and/or bad locations related to results. Aspects described herein permit the user to save a record of injection treatment locations and amounts (e.g., dosages) using the marks that are superimposed on the image of the subject.
It is noted that the foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present invention. While the present invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment, it is understood that the words which have been used herein are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made, within the purview of the appended claims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention in its aspects. Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the present invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims.
