JP2003135484A - Laser treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laser treatment apparatus by which a wide range of surface to be irradiated is efficiently irradiated without nonuniformity with a laser beam where a beam diameter is narrowed and a power density is enhanced. SOLUTION: An optical unit 5 includes a semiconductor laser 6, a spherical lens 7, and a heat sink 8. A vibration motor 10 is fixed to the optical unit 5, the vibration motor 10 vibrates the optical unit 5, and the irradiation position of the laser beam is moved at high speed on the surface 19 to be irradiated. Thus, a wide range of the surface 19 to be irradiated is irradiated by scanning with the laser beam.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser treatment device for irradiating a skin with a laser beam to treat beautiful skin, hair removal, hair growth, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When laser light is applied to the skin after removing hair with a depilatory cream, the laser light is absorbed by melanin in the epidermis to generate heat, resulting in protein degeneration in the skin tissue. As a result, the sebaceous glands and the papilla of the hair are damaged, and the tissue of the hair follicle is hardened to exert a hair removal effect of suppressing the growth of hair.

Alternatively, when abnormal pigment cells scattered on the epidermis or dermis of skin such as spots and freckles are irradiated with laser light, the abnormal pigment cells generate heat and are dispersed into fine particles.
The dispersed abnormal pigment cells float on the surface, become waste products, are absorbed by blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, and disappear, exhibiting a beautiful skin effect that restores normal-colored skin.

[0004] When performing treatments such as hair removal and beautiful skin, it is necessary to uniformly irradiate laser light over a wide area of the skin in order to remove waste hair, spots, freckles and the like.

[0005]

However, the semiconductor laser used for these treatments has a very small cross-sectional area of the light emitting portion of several .mu.m to several tens of .mu.m, and therefore has a high directivity like a He--Ne laser. It does not become a parallel thin straight beam, but spreads greatly at an angle of 30 ° to 45 °. Therefore, in order to concentrate the power density, light is condensed by a lens, but the beam diameter in the vicinity of the focal point is considerably small as 1 to 2 mm.

Therefore, if the laser beam is to be uniformly irradiated with a single beam over a wide area of the skin, the beam diameter is small, which requires time and labor, which is a laborious and tedious work. Further, it is said that hair loss and beautiful skin have to be repeatedly performed for a long period of time so that it is said that the change can be finally seen about three months after the laser light is applied, which is further troublesome.

The present invention is intended to solve such a problem, and to efficiently and uniformly scan and irradiate a wide range of the skin, which is the surface to be irradiated, with a laser beam having a narrow beam diameter and increased power density. The purpose is to provide a laser treatment device capable of

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is an optical unit equipped with a laser light source and an optical system for condensing laser light emitted from the laser light source. And a vibration motor that generates vibration so that the irradiation position of the laser light emitted from the optical unit on the irradiation surface is continuously changed.

That is, in the present invention, the irradiation direction of the laser light, that is, the irradiation position of the laser light on the surface to be irradiated is moved at high speed by the vibration generated by the vibration motor. By making the vibration speed (frequency) of the vibration motor sufficiently higher than the speed at which the laser treatment device is manually moved, the laser light emitted from the optical unit can be scanned and irradiated in a range wider than the beam diameter. . Therefore, it is possible to efficiently and uniformly irradiate a wide range of the skin, which is the surface to be irradiated, with the laser light with a narrowed beam diameter and increased power density.

The optical unit itself, only the optical system of the optical unit, is brought into contact with the light guide component for guiding the laser light to the irradiated surface, the outer case, and the irradiated surface at the portion to which the acceleration generated by the vibration motor is applied. Contact lenses.

By vibrating the optical system, the light guide component, and the like, which have a smaller load than the optical unit, the vibration motor to be selected can have a relatively small power and can be made compact and lightweight. become.

Further, by configuring the outer case to vibrate with the vibration motor, the vibration motor can be easily attached and the installation location can be easily selected, and the design cost and the manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

By vibrating the contact lens that comes into contact with the surface to be illuminated by the vibration motor, it is possible to simultaneously perform the massage effect by the vibration on the skin and the treatment by the laser light.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a laser treatment device 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention with a part thereof cut away.

The outer case 2 of the laser treatment device 1 is composed of a grip portion 3 and a head portion 4. The grip part 3 is a part that can be gripped by the user's hand. Head part 4
Is a treatment laser emitting portion and has an opening 4a for emitting laser light. An optical unit 5 including a semiconductor laser 6, a spherical lens 7 and a heat sink 8 is housed and arranged inside the head portion 4.

The semiconductor laser 6 is, for example, a PN using a compound semiconductor such as GaAs (gallium arsenide).
It is excited by the current flowing through the junction diode and has a peak wavelength of, for example, 600 to 1600 nm and an optical output of, for example, 5 m.
The laser light of W to 3 W is output.

The spherical lens 7 is an optical system for condensing the laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser 6 on the irradiated surface 19.
Since the spherical lens 7 has a shorter focal length than an ordinary lens, it has a small depth of focus and can narrow the optical power to a narrow range. Further, from the position beyond the focal point, on the contrary, it spreads at the same angle, and the optical power is dispersed in a wide range. For this reason, the energy density becomes low at the position beyond the focal point and the optical power declines, so that the risk of damaging the living body is reduced even if the irradiation is erroneously performed.

The heat sink 8 is for diffusing the heat generated when the semiconductor laser 6 is driven by heat conduction and suppressing the deterioration of the performance. The heat sink 8 is made of a material having a high heat conduction efficiency, such as one made of aluminum or its alloy.

A vibration motor 10 is fixed to the optical unit 5. An eccentric weight 11 is fixed to the motor shaft 12 of the vibration motor 10 as a vibrator, and the eccentric weight 11 rotates at high speed with eccentricity to allow the motor body to rotate in the radial direction. Acceleration is generated. Due to the acceleration generated in the vibration motor 10, the optical unit 5 vibrates so as to continuously move the irradiation direction of the laser light, that is, the irradiation position of the laser light on the irradiated surface 19. For example, 17 is set as the fulcrum of the vibration of such an optical unit 5. Here, the vibration motor 10
The vibration speed (frequency) of this laser treatment device 1
Since the laser light emitted from the optical unit 5 is sufficiently faster than the speed at which the laser beam is manually moved, the laser light emitted from the optical unit 5 is scanned and irradiated onto a wide range of the irradiation surface 19. In addition,
The rotation speed of the vibration motor 10 is 5000-10000 rp.
The thing of about m is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this rotation speed. The laser treatment apparatus of this embodiment realizes wide-range irradiation based on the above principle.

As shown in FIG. 2, an operation panel portion 18 is provided on the rear surface of the outer case 2. The operation panel 18 includes a power key 14 for switching the power on / off, and a mode selection key 1 for wide-range irradiation and single-point irradiation.
5, a treatment start / end key 16 and the like are provided. The selection state of each key 14, 15, 16 is displayed by the LEDs 21, 22, 23, 24 arranged adjacent to the key.

FIG. 3 shows this laser treatment apparatus 1.
The configuration of the control system is shown. As shown in the figure, the input processing unit 31 processes the key input from the operation panel unit 18 and outputs the input data to the control unit 32. When wide-range irradiation and treatment start are selected through the operation panel unit 18, the control unit 32 receives them and drives the laser drive circuit 33 and the motor drive circuit 34. As a result, the semiconductor laser 6 is driven to start laser emission, and at the same time, the vibration motor 10 is driven to perform wide-range irradiation.

When one-point irradiation and treatment start are selected through the operation panel unit 18, the control unit 32 receives them and drives only the laser drive circuit 33. As a result, only the semiconductor laser 6 is driven and single point irradiation is performed.

When the treatment end is selected through the operation panel section 18 during the irradiation of the laser beam, the control section 32
In response to this, the drive of the laser drive circuit 33 is stopped,
When the wide area irradiation is being performed, the driving of the motor drive circuit 34 is stopped at the same time.

FIG. 4 shows the ranges of wide-range irradiation and single-point irradiation in comparison. The single point irradiation is a mode in which the vibration motor 10 is turned off and the laser light is emitted without vibrating the optical unit 5. At this time, the irradiation range is, for example, 2-3 m in diameter.
m. In wide-area irradiation, the irradiation range of 2-3 mm in diameter is moved continuously and at high speed by vibrating the optical unit 5, and scanning irradiation is performed in the range of 6-9 mm in diameter as a whole. As explained above,
According to the laser treatment apparatus 1 of this embodiment,
By vibrating the optical unit 5 by the vibration motor 10 and continuously moving the irradiation position of the laser light on the surface to be irradiated 19, the laser beam having a narrowed beam diameter and increased power density is applied to the surface to be irradiated. It is possible to irradiate a wide range efficiently and evenly.

In this embodiment, an example in which the irradiation range is expanded to a diameter of 6-9 mm by wide-range irradiation has been described, but the irradiation range of laser light can be made wider depending on the selection of the rotation speed of the vibration motor 10 and the vibration amount. Can be extended to

Although the vibration motor 10 is fixed to the optical unit 5 to vibrate the optical unit 5 in the first embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. Therefore, another embodiment will be described below.

(Second Embodiment) As shown in FIG. 5, in this laser treatment device 41, the vibration motor 10 applies vibration not to the optical unit 5 but to the lens holder 42 holding the spherical lens 7. By mounting and vibrating the spherical lens 7 in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis, the irradiation position of the laser light on the surface to be irradiated 19 can be moved at high speed to enable wide-area irradiation.

According to this embodiment, since the spherical lens 7 having a smaller load than that of the optical unit 5 may be vibrated, the vibration motor 10 having a relatively small power is sufficient, which is advantageous in reducing the size and weight. is there.

(Third Embodiment) As shown in FIG. 6, the laser treatment device 51 includes a vibration motor 10
Is attached so as to give vibration to a mirror 52 which is a light guide component for guiding the laser light emitted from the optical unit 5 to the illuminated surface 19, and the tilt of the mirror 52 is changed by the vibration so that the illuminated surface is illuminated. The irradiation position of the laser beam at 19 is moved at high speed to enable wide range irradiation.

According to this embodiment, similarly to the second embodiment, since the mirror 52 having a small load may be vibrated, the vibrating motor 10 does not need a large output power.

(Fourth Embodiment) As shown in FIG. 7, in this laser treatment device 61, the vibration motor 10 is attached to the outer case 2 so that the entire device is vibrated, so that the irradiation surface 19 is exposed. The irradiation position of laser light is moved at high speed to enable wide-area irradiation.

According to this embodiment, mounting of the vibration motor 10 and selection of the mounting location are facilitated, and the design cost and manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

(Fifth Embodiment) As shown in FIG. 8, this laser treatment device 71 has a lens holder 73 which supports a contact lens 72 which contacts the surface to be illuminated 19.
The vibration motor 10 is attached to the contact lens 72, and the contact lens 72 is vibrated in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis by the acceleration generated by the vibration motor 10 to vibrate the irradiated surface 19 in contact with the contact lens 72. That is, with respect to the laser light emitted from the optical unit 5, the irradiated surface 19 is moved at a high speed in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis to enable wide-area irradiation.

The laser treatment device 71 of this embodiment has an effect that the massage effect by vibration on the skin and the treatment by laser light can be performed at the same time.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently and uniformly irradiate a wide range of the skin, which is the surface to be irradiated, with a laser beam having a narrowed beam diameter and increased power density. Further, by configuring the contact lens that comes into contact with the illuminated surface to vibrate with the vibration motor,
It is possible to simultaneously perform the massage effect of vibration on the skin and the treatment of laser light. The effect can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a part of a laser treatment device according to a first embodiment of the present invention by cutting away.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an operation panel unit of the laser treatment device of FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the laser treatment apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a comparison between a wide-range irradiation range and a single-point irradiation range.

FIG. 5 is a side view in which a part of a laser treatment device according to a second embodiment of the present invention is cut away.

FIG. 6 is a side view in which a part of a laser treatment device according to a third embodiment of the present invention is cut away.

FIG. 7 is a side view in which a part of a laser treatment device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is cut away.

FIG. 8 is a side view in which a part of a laser treatment device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Laser treatment device 2 ... Exterior case 4 head part 5: Optical unit 6 ... Semiconductor laser 7: Ball lens 8 ... Heat sink 10 ... Vibration motor 11 ... Eccentric weight 12: Motor shaft 14 ... power key 15: Mode selection key 16 …… Start / end key 18: Operation panel section 19: Irradiated surface 31 ... Input processing unit 32 ... Control unit 33 ... Laser drive circuit 34 ... Motor drive circuit 41, 51, 61, 71 ... Laser treatment device 42 ... Lens holder 52 …… Mirror 72 ... Contact lens 73 ... Lens holder

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Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An optical unit equipped with a laser light source and an optical system for condensing laser light emitted from the laser light source, and an irradiation position of a laser light emitted from the optical unit on a surface to be irradiated. A laser treatment device comprising: a vibration motor that generates vibration so as to continuously change. 2. The laser treatment device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration motor imparts acceleration to the optical unit. 3. The laser treatment device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration motor applies acceleration to the optical system of the optical unit. 4. The laser treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a light guide component that guides the laser light emitted from the optical unit to an irradiation surface, and the vibration motor applies acceleration to the light guide component. A laser treatment device characterized by being applied. 5. The laser treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an outer case holding the optical unit,
A laser treatment device, wherein the vibration motor applies acceleration to the outer case. 6. The laser treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a contact lens that contacts the surface to be illuminated, wherein the vibration motor applies acceleration to the contact lens to vibrate the surface to be illuminated. The characteristic laser treatment device.