JP2005278724A - Treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a treatment apparatus capable of surely preventing erroneous laser beam irradiation. <P>SOLUTION: The treatment apparatus 1 comprises a laser beam irradiation mechanism provided with a laser diode 20 or the like capable of irradiating the skin surface of a treatment object with a laser beam from a laser irradiation port 23, three contactors 25a, 25b and 25c projected from the laser irradiation port 23 in a laser beam irradiation direction and arranged so as to surround the laser irradiation port 23, and a touch sensor circuit 28 for detecting the contact of the respective contactors and the skin surface and operating the laser beam irradiation mechanism. The respective contactors 25a, 25b and 25c are arranged in a preferable layout for starting laser beam irradiation in the state of surely making the skin surface of a treatment object and the laser irradiation port 23 face each other. That is, the respective contactors 25a, 25b and 25c are respectively arranged at the three vertex parts of a regular triangle capable of inscribing the outer peripheral edge of the laser irradiation port 23 bored in a circular shape. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a treatment apparatus for performing treatment by irradiating a skin surface with light such as laser light.

  In general, by irradiating the skin surface by irradiating the skin surface with high energy density laser light, the skin tissue of the skin is activated, and the laser light irradiation type that can be used for treatments such as beautiful skin and hair growth. A treatment apparatus is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this type of treatment device, it is also possible to perform treatments such as hair removal and slimming in addition to the above-mentioned skin treatment and hair growth by appropriately setting the power and irradiation time of the laser light applied to the skin surface. .

By the way, in such a laser beam irradiation type treatment device, a device having a touch sensor function is also used in order to prevent an unintended site in the body from being erroneously irradiated with a laser beam having a high energy density. . That is, for example, this touch sensor function detects contact / non-contact between, for example, a single contact or a set of contacts projecting in the laser light irradiation direction from the vicinity of the laser light irradiation port and the skin surface to be treated. It detects and controls the radiation / non-radiation of laser light from the laser light source.
JP 2002-355320 A

  However, the touch sensor mechanism having the above-described configuration is not necessarily sufficient as a safety device for preventing erroneous laser beam irradiation, and further improvement in safety is required.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such problems, and provides a treatment apparatus that can improve safety when performing treatment by more reliably preventing unintended light irradiation. Objective.

  In order to achieve the above object, a treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a light irradiation mechanism capable of irradiating light on the skin surface to be treated from an irradiation port, and at least three or more disposed so as to surround the irradiation port. And a touch sensor mechanism that activates the light irradiation mechanism by detecting contact between each contact and the skin surface.

  That is, in the present invention, three or more contacts that are direct detection portions of the contact state / non-contact state with the skin surface are provided, and are arranged in a distributed manner at positions surrounding the light irradiation port. Therefore, the direction of the light irradiation port is surely determined, and light is irradiated only when the desired skin surface to be treated and the light irradiation port completely face each other. Therefore, according to the present invention, since unintended light irradiation can be prevented more reliably, even when the light emitted from the irradiation port is, for example, a laser beam having a high energy density, safety at the time of treatment is performed. Can be secured.

  Here, as a preferable layout of the contact for starting the light irradiation in a state where the skin surface to be treated and the light irradiation port are reliably opposed to each other, for example, these contacts are the outer periphery of the irradiation port. An example thereof is that they are arranged on the top and are arranged at substantially equal intervals in the direction of going around the outer periphery. In addition, as a preferable configuration for ensuring safety during treatment using three contacts, for example, the irradiation port is formed in a circular shape, and further, at the three apex portions of an equilateral triangle that can be inscribed in the outer peripheral edge of the irradiation port. The arrangement of each contactor is exemplified.

  Therefore, according to this invention, the treatment apparatus which can improve the safety | security at the time of performing a treatment can be provided by preventing irradiation of the light which is not intended more reliably.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a treatment apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view showing a laser irradiation apparatus provided in the treatment apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the laser irradiation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the head part of the laser irradiation apparatus, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the head part seen from the side, and FIG. 6 functionally shows the control system of the treatment apparatus. FIG. 7 is a block diagram functionally showing a touch sensor circuit constituting a part of the control system of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this treatment apparatus 1 is an apparatus for a user to perform a treatment by himself / herself. The treatment apparatus 1 includes a controller / apparatus storage box (hereinafter referred to as “control box”) 2 and a control box 2. And a laser irradiation device 5 connected through a connection cable 3.

  On the front face of the control box 2, there is a display panel 6 on which guidance information for operating the treatment apparatus body and the operation state of the apparatus are visually displayed, a socket 7 for attaching a connection terminal (plug) of the connection cable 3, etc. Is provided. The control box 2 includes a power source for supplying power to the laser irradiation device 5 and a control circuit for controlling the irradiation of the laser light from the laser irradiation device 5.

  Further, on the front surface of the control box 2, a power switch 8 for turning on / off the beauty processing apparatus body, an LED 9 for indicating the power on / off state, a setting switch 10 for performing various settings, An LED 11 that visually indicates each setting state is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the laser irradiation device 5 is a handy type device in which a user performs a treatment by hand. That is, the laser irradiation device 5 includes a case 12 that forms an outer shell of the device, a control chip 16 that is mounted inside the case 12 via a substrate 15, a setting switch 19 that is provided on the entire surface of the case 12, A laser diode 20 as a light source that emits laser light (see FIG. 6), a heat sink 21 that removes heat from the laser diode 20, a cooling fan 17 that cools the heat sink 21, and a laser light emitted from the laser diode. It is mainly composed of a rod-shaped light guide lens 24 that irradiates the skin surface of the body with laser light from the laser irradiation port 23 while shining.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the setting switch 19 turns on / off the power supply of the treatment apparatus main body on the laser irradiation apparatus 5 side, and notifies the user of this by turning on / off the LED lamp 18. The setting switch 19 has substantially the same function as the setting switch 10 on the main body side, and is used to set the on-time (irradiation time and irradiation cycle) of laser light irradiated intermittently (pulsed). It is. That is, each time the setting switch 19 is pressed, the mode is switched in the order of power-on, on-time switching, and power-off. At this time, the display of the LED lamp 18 is switched in the order of green lighting, green flashing, orange lighting, orange flashing, red lighting, red flashing corresponding to the setting levels 1 to 6. Finally, when the setting switch 19 is kept pressed for, for example, 1.5 seconds or longer, the power is turned off.

  The heat sink 21 diffuses heat generated during the operation of the laser diode 20 by heat conduction, and suppresses deterioration in performance. For this reason, the heat sink 21 is cast from aluminum having a high thermal conductivity or an alloy thereof, and has a plurality of through holes in order to increase the surface area, thereby enhancing the heat dissipation effect.

  The laser diode is excited by applying a current directly to a PN junction diode using a compound semiconductor such as GaAs (gallium arsenide) to obtain laser oscillation. As the laser diode 20, for example, a semiconductor element capable of emitting laser light having a wavelength of 700 to 900 nm and an optical output of 5 mW to 5 W is applied.

  Such laser light has the effect of inducing photoelectric reaction, photomagnetic reaction, photodynamic reaction, photochemical reaction, photoimmune reaction, photoenzyme reaction, etc., and promotes the metabolism of living tissue by photobiological activation. Therefore, it has excellent reachability to the deep part of the skin.

Here, various treatments that can be realized by the treatment apparatus 1 will be briefly described.
Since the laser beam has a higher energy density than other light, the temperature of the irradiated portion can be raised relatively easily when irradiated to a living tissue. As a result, the laser beam is a photothermal reaction that intentionally causes protein modification at a desired site in living tissue, or a so-called non-thermal reaction (not exceeding 40 ° C.) for promoting metabolic function. It is possible to induce photochemical reaction, photomagnetic reaction, biological reaction such as ionization reaction) that occurs at a relatively low temperature.

That is, the treatment apparatus 1 realizes treatments such as hair growth, hair removal, beautiful skin, and slimming by appropriately setting laser power, irradiation time, and the like and irradiating the skin surface of the human body with laser light.
Hair growth treatment is performed by irradiating the scalp surface with laser light having a relatively low energy density. As a result, blood circulation in the scalp is promoted to open pores, and sebum and dirt clogged in the pores are washed to obtain a hair growth effect. On the other hand, hair removal treatment is realized by irradiating hair roots such as body hair with laser light having a relatively high energy density. In this case, protein growth of hair matrix cells such as body hair is promoted, so that hair growth is suppressed and a hair removal effect is obtained.

  In addition, when performing beautiful skin treatment, laser light is irradiated so that the melanin scattered in the epidermis and dermis of the skin is heated to a relatively high temperature, causing heat denaturation by photothermal action, aza, spots, Remove buckwheat etc. In addition, when performing slimming treatment, laser light with a relatively low energy density is supplied to a specific acupoint deeply related to the sympathetic nerve, and the acupuncture is stimulated by non-thermal effects such as photochemical reaction, photomagnetic reaction, ionization reaction, etc. It promotes blood circulation, thereby activating cellular tissues to increase metabolic function and burn excess fat. Here, the target light irradiated on the skin surface from the head unit 22 may be changed from laser light to, for example, UV light. By irradiating the skin surface with UV light having a bactericidal action, a bactericidal treatment for purifying the skin can be performed.

Next, the control system of the treatment apparatus 1 will be described.
That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the control system 37 of the treatment apparatus 1 detects the contact of each contact 25a, 25b, 25c to the skin surface and substantially controls the emission / non-emission of light from the laser diode. A touch sensor circuit 28 to be described later, a memory 29 in which an irradiation pattern of laser light is stored, a mode switching circuit 38 for switching a treatment mode according to the setting contents by the setting switch 10 and the setting switch 19, and a laser diode A laser drive circuit 30 that drives 20 to emit laser light, a CPU 31 that comprehensively controls these circuits, a touch sensor circuit 28, an interface 32 that connects the laser drive circuit 30 and the CPU 31, and the like. ing.

  The memory 29 stores various programs including setting values of the irradiation timing of laser light that is intermittently emitted from the laser diode 20 at a predetermined irradiation time. The laser drive circuit 30 supplies a predetermined drive current voltage to the laser diode 20 under the control of the CPU 31 and causes the laser diode 20 to emit laser light.

Here, the touch sensor mechanism provided in the treatment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described in detail mainly based on FIGS.
That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the treatment apparatus 1 includes a laser drive circuit 30, a laser diode 20, a light guide lens 24, and the like that can irradiate a skin surface to be treated with laser light from a laser irradiation port 23. A laser beam irradiation mechanism, and at least three or more (three in this embodiment) of the above-described contacts 25a that protrude in the laser beam irradiation direction from the laser beam irradiation port 23 and are arranged so as to surround the laser beam irradiation port 23; 25b, 25c, and a touch sensor circuit 28 that detects the contact between each of these contacts (all contacts) and the skin surface and operates the light irradiation mechanism under the control of the CPU 31.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the contacts 25 a, 25 b, and 25 c starts laser beam irradiation in a state where the skin surface to be treated and the laser irradiation port 23 are reliably opposed to each other. For the preferred layout. That is, these contacts 25a, 25b, and 25c are provided on the outer peripheral edge of the laser irradiation port 23, and are arranged at almost equal intervals in the direction of circling the outer peripheral edge. Specifically, the respective contacts 25a, 25b, and 25c are arranged at three vertex portions of an equilateral triangle that can be inscribed in the outer peripheral edge of the laser irradiation port 23 that is drilled in a circular shape.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the touch sensor circuit 28 generates a weak alternating voltage generated when each of the contacts 25a, 25b, and 25c comes into contact with the skin, and a band filter 33, a rectifier circuit 34, and an amplifier 35, respectively. Is converted into a DC voltage via the, and after being waveform-shaped, level-adjusted, and offset-adjusted, it is input to the CPU 31 via the A / D converter 36 and the interface 32. In addition to the contact type, the touch sensor circuit 28 may be a sensor that detects a change in impedance such as capacitance or resistance, or a sensor that detects a pressure change using a piezoelectric element.

  The touch sensor circuit 28 is configured as described above, reads the voltage value of each contact 25a, 25b, 25c, determines whether or not a predetermined AC voltage is generated, and each contact 25a, 25b, 25c. When a predetermined alternating voltage is generated in both, an ON signal is output to the laser drive circuit 30 of the laser diode 20. That is, the laser irradiation device 5 is configured so that the laser beam is irradiated only when all the contacts 25a, 25b, and 25c are brought into contact with the skin surface. Thereby, there is no possibility that the laser beam is accidentally irradiated to an unintended living body part, and the safety of the apparatus is improved. Such a touch sensor circuit 28 is realized by, for example, the control chip 16 incorporated in the laser irradiation device 5.

  As described above, in the treatment apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, three or more contacts 25a, 25b, and 25c that are direct detection portions of the contact state / non-contact state with the skin surface are provided. Are arranged in such a manner that they are dispersed in positions surrounding the laser irradiation port 23, so that the orientation of the laser irradiation port 23 is determined reliably, the desired skin surface to be treated, the laser irradiation port 23, and the like. The laser beam (with a high energy density) is irradiated only when they are completely opposed. Therefore, according to the treatment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, unintentional laser light irradiation can be more reliably prevented, so that safety during treatment can be improved.

  Further, the laser diode 20 provided in the laser irradiation device 5 has a light emitting section cross-sectional area of a very small area on the order of several μm to several tens of μm, so that it has a high directivity like a He—Ne laser. It does not become a thin linear beam, but is emitted while spreading radially at an angle of 30 ° to 45 °. That is, since the laser irradiation device 5 does not use a condensing lens or the like for condensing the laser light, there is no focal position of the laser and consideration is given to safety.

  Although the present invention has been specifically described above with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. That is, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or the like may be provided in the head portion 22 of the treatment apparatus 1, and further, a liquid crystal that displays an image of an irradiated portion on the skin surface and its peripheral portion imaged by the CCD. You may provide a display etc. in the housing | casing part etc. of the laser irradiation apparatus 5. FIG.

The perspective view which shows the treatment apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The front view which shows the laser irradiation apparatus with which the treatment apparatus of FIG. 1 is provided. Sectional drawing which looked at the laser irradiation apparatus of FIG. 2 from the side surface. The perspective view which shows the head part of the laser irradiation apparatus of FIG. Sectional drawing which looked at the head part of FIG. 4 from the side surface. The block diagram which shows the control system of the treatment apparatus of FIG. 1 functionally. The block diagram which shows the touch sensor circuit which comprises some control systems of FIG. 6 functionally.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Treatment apparatus, 5 ... Laser irradiation apparatus, 20 ... Laser diode, 22 ... Head part, 23 ... Laser irradiation port, 24 ... Light guide lens, 25a, 25b, 25c ... Each contact, 28 ... Touch sensor circuit, 30 ... Laser drive circuit.

Claims (3)

A light irradiation mechanism capable of irradiating the skin surface of the treatment target with light from the irradiation port;
At least three or more contacts arranged so as to surround the irradiation opening;
A treatment apparatus comprising: a touch sensor mechanism that detects contact between each contactor and the skin surface and activates the light irradiation mechanism.   2. The treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the contacts is provided on an outer peripheral edge of the irradiation port, and is disposed with a substantially equal interval in a direction around the outer peripheral edge.   The irradiation port is perforated in a circular shape, and each of the contacts is arranged at a position of three vertexes of an equilateral triangle that can be inscribed in an outer peripheral edge of the irradiation port. 3. The treatment apparatus according to 1 or 2.

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