JP3807906B2 - Laser beam irradiation probe - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a laser beam irradiation probe that performs treatment such as hair removal by irradiating a skin with laser beam.
[0002]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Laser light has the property of being absorbed by a black substance and reflected by a white substance, and since the melanin contained in the hair is black, when the hair is irradiated with laser light, the laser light is absorbed and Joule heat is generated. To do.
This heat removes the cuticle on the hair surface and damages the hair root.
Furthermore, since heat damages not only the hair but also the sebum opening and the dermal papilla, the structure of the hair follicle becomes hard and the new hair becomes thick and difficult to grow.
For this reason, hair becomes thin in steps and the depilation effect is exhibited.
[0003]
On the other hand, for women, hair that is particularly desired to be removed is unwanted hair on the arms and legs that are often exposed, but these are often thin hairs with little melanin.
Black and thick hair absorbs laser light well and generates heat, but thin hair does not absorb much laser light even when irradiated with the same output laser light, so it does not generate enough heat, compared to normal hair It is difficult to remove hair.
[0004]
In order to remove thin hair, it is necessary to increase the energy density of laser light further than normal hair to promote heat generation.
However, since the conventional laser beam irradiation probe did not have a function of adjusting the output of the laser beam, in the case of thin hair, a cream containing carbon or the like was applied to efficiently absorb the laser beam.
For this reason, since cream was applied before and after hair removal, or the cream was wiped off, there was a problem that it was troublesome and troublesome.
In addition, when the cream penetrated into the skin, it took extra work such as washing to remove it.
[0005]
Accordingly, the present invention provides a laser beam irradiation probe that exhibits a uniform hair removal effect even without applying carbon or the like to thin hair, and can irradiate an appropriate laser beam according to the density of the hair to be removed. It was made for the purpose of doing.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the present invention is configured as follows.
[0007]
That is, the invention of claim 1 is a laser diode for irradiating laser light;
Laser output setting means for arbitrarily setting the output of the laser diode;
Operating current adjusting means for adjusting the operating current of the laser diode according to the set output;
Intermittent irradiation means for intermittently irradiating laser light at a predetermined time interval and irradiation time by turning on and off this operating current;
A movement instruction signal transmission means for transmitting a signal for instructing movement of the probe every predetermined number of times of this intermittent irradiation;
The number of times of irradiation for transmitting this movement instruction signal, the number of times of irradiation irradiation changing for changing as the output level is higher according to the output of the laser diode, and
It is a laser beam irradiation probe provided with.
A second aspect of the present invention is the laser light irradiation probe according to the first aspect, wherein the output of the laser diode has three or more modes that differ stepwise.
A third aspect of the present invention is the laser light irradiation probe according to the first aspect, wherein the output of the laser diode has three or more modes that vary stepwise depending on the density of the hair to be removed.
The invention according to claim 4 is the laser beam irradiation probe according to claim 3, wherein the output of the laser diode in the mode is lowered as the hair to be removed becomes darker.
The invention of claim 5 has three or more modes in which the output of the laser diode varies stepwise depending on the density of hair to be removed, and the irradiation time in this mode is shortened as the hair to be removed is darker. A laser beam irradiation probe according to claim 1.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
1 and 2 are a front view and a longitudinal sectional view of a laser beam irradiation probe embodying the present invention.
The laser beam irradiation probe has a head portion 1 projecting from the front of a case C, a substrate K built in the case C, and an operating current adjusting circuit 2, a fan 3, an LED lamp 4, and a push switch 5 are attached.
The LED lamp 4 and the push switch 5 open the opposite surface of the case C and expose the tip to the outside.
[0010]
The head portion 1 has an opening at the center thereof, and a ball lens 11 is inserted thereinto. A heat sink 12 that is inscribed in the head portion 1 is installed behind the head portion 1. .
[0011]
The spherical lens 11 condenses the laser light from the semiconductor laser diode 13 to form a beam waist at the front focal point. However, since the focal length is shorter than a normal lens, the optical power is narrowed down to a narrow range with a small focal depth. be able to.
On the contrary, it spreads at the same angle from the position past the focal point, and the optical power is dispersed over a wide range.
For this reason, since the energy density becomes low and the optical power decreases at a position past the focal point, the risk of damaging the living body is reduced even if it is accidentally irradiated.
[0012]
The heat sink 12 diffuses heat generated during operation of the semiconductor laser diode 13 by heat conduction to suppress a decrease in output.
For this reason, it casts with aluminum or its alloy with good heat-conduction efficiency, and provides several dummy through-holes to improve heat dissipation efficiency.
[0013]
The semiconductor laser diode 13 is excited by flowing a current directly through a PN junction diode using a compound semiconductor such as GaAs to obtain laser oscillation. In addition, laser light having a peak wavelength of 600 to 1600 nm and an optical output of 5 mW to 3 W is output, and the thermal efficiency is high and sufficient photothermal reaction occurs on the skin.
[0014]
An adjuster 14 is attached to the outer periphery of the spherical lens 11 via a screw screw a.
The adjuster 14 is made of transparent acrylic so that the laser light irradiation surface can be seen directly from the outside.
Also, a notch for ventilation is provided by cutting out one end of the opening at the tip.
The adjuster 14 serves as a spacer, and adjusts the distance between the ball lens 11 and the skin surface so as to be freely separated by turning the screw screw a.
[0015]
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the operating current adjusting circuit.
The operating current adjustment circuit 2 outputs a reference signal for determining the output level of the semiconductor laser diode 13 by the CPU 21 via the I / O interface 22 and the D / A converter 23, and amplifies the reference signal by the amplifier 24 to output the laser. The reference voltage is generated.
Further, since the semiconductor laser diode 13 has a structure in which the laser output can be extracted from both sides of the element, one laser output is received by the photodiode 25 and the received light voltage is amplified by the amplifier 26 to generate a monitor voltage.
These reference voltage and monitor voltage are input to the differential amplifier 27 and amplified by the amplifier 28, thereby supplying an operating current for exciting the laser oscillation at the set output level to the semiconductor laser diode 13.
[0016]
When a voltage is applied to the semiconductor laser diode 13, current starts to flow, and when this current is gradually increased, natural light is first emitted as shown in FIG. 5, but when the current exceeds a threshold value. Laser oscillation occurs, and the laser output light increases rapidly in proportion to the current.
By changing the excitation current of this laser oscillation, the output of the laser beam can be adjusted.
[0017]
The CPU 21 also turns on and off the operating current of the semiconductor laser diode 13 by timer control, and intermittently irradiates laser light at a predetermined time interval and irradiation time.
The irradiation time of this intermittent irradiation is automatically set according to the output level of the laser output, and the higher the output level, the longer the irradiation time for one time.
Thereby, the energy density of the laser beam can be sufficiently increased even for thin hair.
[0018]
Further, the CPU 21 outputs a signal sound instructing movement of the probe by driving a piezoelectric element (not shown) at every fixed number of times of intermittent irradiation.
The number of irradiations for outputting the signal sound is automatically set according to the output level of the laser output, and the smaller the number of times the higher the output level is.
Thereby, the movement timing of the probe is notified according to the output level of the laser output.
The probe is moved each time the irradiation for the prescribed number of intermittent irradiations is completed.
[0019]
The fan 3 is installed behind the head unit 1 to cool the heat sink 12 by air.
LED lamp 4 is a lamp that can emit red, green, yellow or orange (amber) light by putting red and green LED chips in one lamp and lighting each one or both at the same time. use.
[0020]
Each time the push switch 5 is pressed once, the mode is switched in the order of power-on, output level switching, and power-off.
Each time the push switch 5 is pressed, the output level is switched in six stages of super bristle, bristle, slightly bristle, normal hair, thin hair, and vellus hair.
The output level may be set according to the part to be removed, such as a heel, an arm, and a leg, in addition to being set according to the darkness of the hair.
At this time, the display of the LED lamp 4 is switched in the order of green lighting, green flashing, orange lighting, orange flashing, red lighting, red flashing corresponding to the six output levels.
Finally, when the push switch 5 is turned on for a long time (about 1.5 seconds), the power supply is turned off and the laser beam irradiation is stopped.
[0021]
For example, the output level of the laser beam is set to 1 w for super bristle, bristle or slightly bristle, 1.2 w for normal hair, thin hair, 1.5 w for vellus hair, and the like.
In addition, the irradiation time of intermittent irradiation is, for example, 0.3 second for super bristle, 0.5 second for bristle, 1.0 second for slightly bristle, 2.0 seconds for normal hair, 3 for thin hair and vellus hair. Set it to 0 seconds.
[0022]
The laser beam irradiation probe of the present invention is configured as described above. When performing treatment, first, the push switch 5 is pressed to turn on the power.
At this time, the output level corresponding to the super-bristle is first set, and the semiconductor laser diode 13 irradiates the laser beam having the set output for a predetermined number of seconds, and then pauses for a predetermined number of seconds.
And then. Laser light is intermittently irradiated while repeating this irradiation and pause.
When changing the output level, the push switch 5 is pressed to switch the output level, and the push switch 5 is stopped from being pressed at the desired output level.
Next, the tip of the adjuster 14 is pressed against the skin and irradiated with laser light a specified number of times.
When you hear a signal sound instructing to move the probe, move the probe to the next position and continue the treatment.
If the focal position of the laser beam is not appropriate, the screw screw a is turned to adjust the height of the skin surface in contact with the tip of the adjuster 14.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the laser beam irradiation probe of the present invention can adjust the output of the laser beam according to the density of hair to be removed .
Also, outgoing radiation count output level of the signal for instructing the movement of the probe in response to the output of the laser diode is set higher less.
Therefore, according to the present invention, a laser beam having an appropriate energy density is automatically irradiated according to the hair density, so that a safe and effective hair removal treatment can be easily performed. Especially for thin hair, it is possible to easily remove hair effectively just like normal hair without any troublesome treatment such as painting with carbon.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a laser beam irradiation probe embodying the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an output power adjustment circuit embodying the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a correspondence between output power switching and LED display.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between excitation current and laser output.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head part 11 Ball lens 12 Heat sink 13 Semiconductor laser diode 14 Adjuster 2 Output power adjustment circuit 21 CPU
22 I / O interface 23 D / A converter 24 Amplifier 25 Photodiode 26 Amplifier 27 Differential amplifier 28 Amplifier 3 Fan 4 LED lamp 5 Push switch a Screw screw C Case K Substrate

Claims (5)

A laser diode that emits laser light;
Laser output setting means for arbitrarily setting the output of the laser diode;
Operating current adjusting means for adjusting the operating current of the laser diode according to the set output;
Intermittent irradiation means for intermittently irradiating laser light at a predetermined time interval and irradiation time by turning on and off this operating current;
A movement instruction signal transmission means for transmitting a signal for instructing movement of the probe every predetermined number of times of this intermittent irradiation;
The number of times of irradiation for transmitting this movement instruction signal, the number of times of irradiation irradiation changing for changing as the output level is higher according to the output of the laser diode, and
A laser beam irradiation probe comprising:   The laser beam irradiation probe according to claim 1, wherein the laser diode has three or more modes whose outputs are different in stages.   2. The laser beam irradiation probe according to claim 1, wherein the output of the laser diode has three or more modes that differ stepwise depending on the density of hair to be removed.   4. The laser light irradiation probe according to claim 3, wherein the laser diode output in the mode is lowered as the hair to be removed becomes darker.   The laser beam according to claim 1, wherein the output of the laser diode has three or more modes that vary stepwise depending on the density of the hair to be removed, and the irradiation time of this mode is shortened as the hair to be removed is darker. Irradiation probe.

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