Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61N—ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY
  • A61N1/00—Electrotherapy; Circuits therefor
  • A61N1/40—Applying electric fields by inductive or capacitive coupling ; Applying radio-frequency signals

Definitions

• This application pertains to a method and appar- atus for promoting hair regrowth and/or mitigating hair loss in humans.
• Pollacsek, et al. entitled “Thera ⁇ Treatmentical Apparatus” discloses a device "by means of which vibrations of diseased parts of the body can be produced” .
• Pollacsek, et al. indicate that the device may be shaped as a cap to be placed on the head and that the cap may be introduced into a magnetic field produced by an electric current passing through the windings of an iron core.
• Pollacsek, et al. indicate that the device may be shaped as a cap to be placed on the head and that the cap may be introduced into a magnetic field produced by an electric current passing through the windings of an iron core.
• Pollacsek, et al. considered applying their device to promote hair regrowth.
• United States Patent No. 3,946,745 Hsiang-Lai et al teaches a system in which electrical pulses are applied directly to a living body, for example by attaching elec- trodes to the body by means of an acupuncture needle or spring-loaded earring.
• German patent application DE 2952 850 Al teaches the use of electromagnetic pulsating fields for stimulat ⁇ ing the body functions furthering the growth of hair.
• Fre ⁇ quencies in the 400-420 hertz range are mentioned, with the subject undergoing continuous exposure to the fields, for example by having the subject carry a battery powered apparatus on his/her person.
• French patent No. 1,350,890 teaches a hair dryer having an electrode structure to which a high frequency voltage generator is electrically coupled in order to apply an intense high frequency electric field to the hair so as to heat and evaporate water from the hair.
• dormant body hair cells i.e. hair cells from which hair is not actively growing
• hair regrowth can be promoted if the body's hair cells are stimulated by subjecting them to a low voltage pulse train having a pulse repetition frequency in the range of about 5 to 35 hertz. The higher portion of this frequency range is considered appropriate for subjects who exhibit normal or hyperactive energy levels. " The lower portion of the frequency range is considered appropriate for individuals who exhibit hypoactive or slow metabolism energy levels.
• the invention provides a process for promoting hair regrowth and/or mitigating hair loss in which two or more electrodes are positioned closely proximate to, but not contacting the subject's scalp.
• a low voltage electrical pulse train signal having a pulse repetition frequency in the range of about 5 to 35 hertz is continuously applied to the elec ⁇ trodes for about twelve minutes.
• the polarity of the signal may be either positive or negative.
• a complete hair regrowth treatment cycle typically spans about thirty-two weeks, during which time the subject undergoes a sequence of twelve minute treatments as aforesaid. Throughout the treatment cycle the subject undergoes one or two twelve minute treatments per week, during which the treatment frequency, signal polarity and voltage level are preferably varied according to the following schedule:
• the invention also provides a hair regrowth apparatus having at least two electrodes which are adapted to be positioned closely proximate to, but not touching a subject's scalp.
• a voltage pulse generator is electrically coupled to the electrodes for application thereto of a low voltage pulse train.
• a frequency selector is electrically coupled to the voltage pulse generator for varying the pulse repetition frequency of the pulse train.
• a polarity selector is electrically coupled between the voltage pulse generator and the electrodes, for varying the polarity of the pulse train.
• a voltage selector is electrically coupled between the voltage pulse generator and the elec- trodes, for varying the voltage of the pulse train.
• a plurality of electrodes are provided.
• the electrodes are mounted within a hood posi- tionable over the subject's head to form an array of concentric electrically conductive electrode rings.
• the rings can be applied to an outer surface of an electrically insulating liner insertable within the hood.
• the array preferably comprises five rings mounted within the hood to subtend a 90° arc on both sides of a central perpendicular axis of the hood.
• the four upper electrodes each subtend- an arc of about 15° and the fifth (lower) electrode sub ⁇ tends an arc of about 6°, with 6° arc gaps between each pair of electrodes on either side of the central perpen ⁇ dicular axis.
• the voltage pulse generator's output signal is applied across the two upper electrode pairs, with alternate electrodes being connected to one of the two output terminals of the voltage pulse generator.
• a voltage divider applies a reduced voltage signal to the lower electrode.
• Figure 1A is an elevation view of a schematically represented hood liner bearing an electrode array configured for use in practising the invention.
• Figure IB is a top view of the Figure 1A structure.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hair regrowth apparatus constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 3 is a partial schematic/block diagram depicting further details of the circuitry utilized with the preferred electrode array.
• Figure 4 is an electronic circuit schematic diagram depicting additional details of the preferred apparatus.
• hood liner 10 carries a plurality of electrodes 11.
• electrodes 11 are positioned closely proximate to, but do not touch the subject's scalp.
• the apparatus is turned on and off with the aid of a mechanical, electrical or electronic timer 12 ( Figure 2) operatively connected to power supply 14 which may be a conventional 110 volt A.C. to '12 volt D.C. transformer.
• power supply 14 which may be a conventional 110 volt A.C. to '12 volt D.C. transformer.
• the 12 volt D.C. signal output by power supply 14 is regulated down to 8 volts D.C. by voltage regulator 16 and the resultant 8 volt D.C. signal is then used to power the remaining electronic components depicted in Figure 2.
• a 110 volt A.C. power source instead of directly coupling a 110 volt A.C. power source to the circuitry as aforesaid, one may alternatively use power supply 14 to charge a 12 volt D.C. battery. The charged battery can then be used to fulfil the apparatus' power requirements and power supply 14 can be disconnected from the 110 volt A.C. power source while the apparatus is in use with a subject.
• a voltage pulse generator means 18 such as an astable multivibrator is electrically coupled to electrodes 11. Pulse generator 18 applies a low voltage train of short duration pulses to electrodes 11 at a selectable pulse repetition frequency. Specifically, frequency selec ⁇ tor switch 20 is electrically coupled to pulse generator 18 to enable the operator to vary the pulse repetition fre- quency within the preferred range of about 5 to 35 hertz.
• Lamp driver 30 provides a visual indication, via lamp 32, of the selected pulse repetition frequency (i.e. lamp 32 blinks on and off at the selected frequency) .
• the low voltage pulse train output by pulse generator 18 is amplified by current amplifier 22 and then presented to pulse transformer 24 which outputs one of two operating voltages (55 volts peak-to-peak; or, 110 volts peak-to-peak) .
• a "signal polarity selector means” namely, rectifier/filter 26, is electrically coupled between pulse transformer 24 and electrodes 11, thereby enabling the operator to vary the polarity of the signals output by pulse transformer 24 through manual selection of one of two positions for polarity switch 28.
• a "voltage selector means” namely, two position switch 34 is provided to enable the operator to select one of the two operating voltages aforesaid for the pulse train applied to elec ⁇ trodes 11.
• the 12 volt D.C. signal output by power supply 14 is electrically coupled to voltage regulator 16 which, in the preferred embodiment, is an LM7808 integrated circuit 8 volt regula ⁇ tor with internal current limiting, thermal shutdown capability and safe area compensation for the internal pass transistor.
• Voltage regulator 16 which, in the preferred embodiment, is an LM7808 integrated circuit 8 volt regula ⁇ tor with internal current limiting, thermal shutdown capability and safe area compensation for the internal pass transistor.
• Capacitors C4 and C5 respectively provide low frequency filtering for the input and output of regulator 16, which produces an 8 volt D.C. output signal used to power the remaining electronic components.
• Astable multivibrator 18 is a NE555 integrated circuit pulse generator.
• the trigger input of astable multivibrator 18 is connected to the threshold input thereof (represented by the dashed line shown in integrated circuit U2 in Figure 4) in order to continuously retrigger the circuit for astable operation thereof.
• Resistors RI, R2 and R5, together with potentiometers R3 and R4 and timing capacitors CI and C2 control the frequency of the pulse train output by astable multivibrator 18.
• the output frequency is selected by manual positioning of switch SWl (reference No.
• Resistor R8 provides current limiting for light emitting diode Dl.
• Capacitor CI is used to bypass pin 5 of the astable multivibrator 18 to ground, preventing noise from altering the width of the pulses output by astable multi ⁇ vibrator 18.
• Capacitor C3 is a bypass capacitor which eliminates high frequency noise on the power line.
• the low voltage pulse train output by astable multivibrator 18 passes to a current amplifier 22 compris ⁇ ing transistors Ql and Q2, which are configured to operate in a class B switching mode to provide the higher peak cur ⁇ rents passed through pulse transformer 24. More particu ⁇ larly, when pulse transformer 24 is switched on, a pulse is imposed on the transformer primary winding. Because the transformer provides D.C. isolation, the higher voltage end of the transformer can safely be used to produce a positive or negative-going pulse through the polarity selector means comprising pulse transformer 24 together with a first rectifier means (i.e. diode D2 shown in Figure 3) , a second rectifier means (i.e. diode D3 shown in Figure 3) and polarity switch SW2 (reference No.
• a first rectifier means i.e. diode D2 shown in Figure 3
• a second rectifier means i.e. diode D3 shown in Figure 3
• polarity switch SW2 reference No.
• the preferred electrode array consists of five electrodes 11, each comprising a thin band of conductive material such as copper foil.
• the bands are applied to form approximately concentric rings on the outer surface of hood-shaped liner 10, which is formed of an electrically insulating material such as plastic.
• Liner 10 supports the electrode bands and prevents them from contacting the subject when liner 10 is inserted within hood 13. More particularly, hood 13 (which may be a conventional commercial hair dryer hood) is placed over the subject's head so that the inner (i.e. non- electrode bearing) surface of liner 10 is adjacent the subject's head.
• the subject's scalp is separ ⁇ ated from the inner surface of liner 10 by a gap of several centimetres.
• electrodes 11 subtend a 180° arc (i.e. 90° on either side of the central perpendicular axis of hood 13 as seen in Figure 1A) , with the four upper electrodes each subtend ⁇ ing arcs of about 15° and the fifth (lowermost) electrode subtending an arc of about 6°, with 6° arc gaps between each pair of electrodes on either side of the central perpendicular axis.
• a voltage divider 36 supplies a half-strength voltage signal for application to electrode E. This reduced voltage assists in preventing imposition of excessive electric fields to the subject's scalp outside the region thereof adjacent to the elec ⁇ trodes, as mentioned above.
• voltage divider 36 comprises three series-connected resistors R... R 12 , and R 13 . Electrode bands A and C are electrically connected to the voltage dividing point between R.. and R 12 , band E is electrically connected to the voltage dividing point between R 12 and R 13 , and bands B and D are electrical- ly connected to the opposite end of R 13 .
• FIG. 3 also shows further details of recti- fier/filter 26, polarity switch 28 and voltage selector switch 34.
• Polarity switch 28 preferably includes a pair of diodes D 2 , D 3 which may be alternatively switched into the circuit path emanating from either one of the two output leads of pulse transformer 24. (The polarity of the voltage signal applied across any pair of electrode bands is the sign of the voltage difference across those elec ⁇ trodes.
• Voltage selector switch 34 is coupled across R 10 such that, in one position of switch 34 the voltage devel- oped across R ⁇ , is applied to voltage divider 36, and in the other position of switch 34 the voltage developed across the series-connected combination of R 9 and R 10 is applied to voltage divider 36.
• the subject's head is positioned within hood 13, so that electrodes 11 lie closely proximate to, but do not touch the subject's scalp.
• Power is applied to the circuit and switches 20, 28 manually positioned to select a desired signal output frequency and polarity. Signals of the selected frequency and polarity are applied to electrodes 11 for about 12 minutes, following which the power ⁇ E idisconnected and hood 13 removed from the sub- ject's fe ad. Repetitive treatments over many weeks will be require.da depending upon the individual characteristics of the particular subject.
• An entire hair regrowth/hair loss mitigation treatment cycle will typically span abc t 32 weeks, during which time the subject undergoes one or two 12 minute treatments as aforesaid per week.
• the following table providespfe-he weekly treatment frequency, the signal output polarity ⁇ and the voltage level preferably employed (accord ⁇ ing to empirical determinations) during each week of the 32 week treatment cycle:
• the treatment regimen may be varied by, for example, replacing two of the negative polarity treatments with two positive polarity treatments and then returning to negative polarity treat ⁇ ments as prescribed for the balance of the treatment cycle.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Molecular Imaging (AREA)
• Radiology & Medical Imaging (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Electrotherapy Devices (AREA)
• Medicinal Preparation (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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• 1993
  • 1993-10-01 JP JP7510521A patent/JPH09506007A/ja active Pending
  • 1993-10-01 GB GB9606770A patent/GB2297262B/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-10-01 AU AU51050/93A patent/AU689445B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1993-10-01 BR BR9307894A patent/BR9307894A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1993-10-01 EP EP93921763A patent/EP0721362A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1993-10-01 DE DE4397604A patent/DE4397604C2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1993-10-01 DE DE4397604T patent/DE4397604T1/de active Granted
  • 1993-10-01 NL NL9320056A patent/NL194859C/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1993-10-01 WO PCT/CA1993/000408 patent/WO1995009671A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1996
  • 1996-03-29 FI FI961424A patent/FI118561B/fi active IP Right Grant
  • 1996-03-29 DK DK036496A patent/DK36496A/da not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1996-03-29 NO NO961285A patent/NO961285L/no not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1996-04-01 LU LU88734A patent/LU88734A1/de unknown
  • 1996-04-01 SE SE9601264A patent/SE9601264L/ not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1998
  • 1998-12-21 HK HK98114142A patent/HK1013035A1/xx not_active IP Right Cessation

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