KR101914742B1 - A laser treatment apparatus for skin - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a laser device for dermal therapy and provides a laser device for dermal therapy, comprising: a light generation unit; and a light emission unit for emitting, onto the bare skin, therapeutic light generated by the light generation unit, wherein the therapeutic light comprises laser pulses emitted at predetermined periodic intervals, and each of the laser pulses comprises at least two unit pulses. The laser device for dermal therapy can effectively perform treatment for dermal lesions, such as dermal rejuvenation or pigmented lesion treatment while minimizing heat injuries.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a laser device for skin treatment,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser apparatus for skin treatment, and more particularly, to a laser apparatus for skin treatment for treating a skin lesion using a pulsed laser.

In recent years, techniques for treating lesions by applying energy to specific tissues of the body to change the state of tissues or remove them have been widely applied. As such energy sources, laser, flash lamp, RF energy, microwave, ultrasonic wave, etc. are used, and various treatment apparatuses using the same are being developed.

Among them, a treatment device for treating skin lesions is widely used as an energy source using a light source such as a laser, and such an apparatus is also disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1269970. When light is irradiated to the skin tissue, light having a specific wavelength penetrates into the inside of the skin, and is selectively absorbed into various tissues such as collagen, hair follicle, and hemoglobin, which are located inside the skin depending on the wavelength characteristics. The absorbed light is converted into thermal energy in the tissue, and the treatment is then performed by changing the state of the tissue.

Recently, with the development of therapeutic techniques using laser, there is a growing demand for a device capable of delivering sufficient energy to a target site while minimizing thermal damage to tissue adjacent to the target site of the skin.

Patent Registration No. 10-1269970 (disclosed on May 24, 2012)

The present invention provides a laser apparatus for treating a skin using a laser, which can precisely control thermal damage to adjacent tissues while transmitting sufficient energy to a target position.

In order to attain the above object, the present invention provides a laser processing apparatus comprising a light generating unit and a light irradiating unit for irradiating the treatment light generated from the light generating unit to the surface of the skin, wherein the treatment light comprises laser pulses irradiated at a predetermined period And each of the laser pulses includes at least two or more unit pulses.

Here, the treatment light may be composed of laser pulses irradiated at a frequency of 15 Hz or less. And, the laser pulses of the treatment light may each have a pulse duration time of 10 ms to 70 ms.

At this time, each laser pulse may include at least 2 to 20 unit pulses. Each unit pulse may have a pulse duration time of 50 mu s to 200 mu s.

In such a therapeutic light pattern, the pulse off time between the plurality of laser pulses may be longer than the unit pulse off time between unit pulses by at least 10 times.

In one example, the treatment light may consist of a laser with a wavelength in the range of 1060 nm to 1070 nm or a laser in the wavelength range of 750 nm to 760 nm and may be composed of laser pulses that generate endyag (Nd: YAG) or alexrite as a laser medium .

Specifically, one of the laser pulses is composed of n unit pulses including first through n-th unit pulses sequentially irradiated, and the first unit pulse irradiated at the earliest is composed of n < th > And is configured to have an output higher than the unit pulse. Here, the output of the n-th unit pulse may be 80% or more of the output of the first unit pulse.

Alternatively, of the n unit pulses constituting one laser pulse, the output of one unit pulse may be configured to be equal to or smaller than the output of the irradiated unit pulse.

Such therapeutic light may have an effect of treating pigment lesions of the skin or improving skin elasticity.

According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively treat skin lesions such as skin rejuvenation or pigment lesion treatment while minimizing thermal damage.

1 is a perspective view of a laser apparatus for skin treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the main configuration of Fig. 1,
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a pattern of treatment light irradiated by the laser apparatus of FIG. 1,
Fig. 4 is a graph specifically showing a pattern of each laser pulse in Fig. 3,
FIG. 5 is a graph showing one laser pulse of treatment light irradiated in the laser apparatus for skin treatment according to the second embodiment of the present invention,
6 is a graph showing the results of measurement of the flash lamp current and the waveform of the output of the laser,
Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of the light irradiating unit of Fig. 2;

Hereinafter, a laser apparatus for skin treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the positional relationship of each component is principally described based on the drawings. The drawings may be simplified for simplicity of the description or exaggerated when necessary. Therefore, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is needless to say that various devices may be added, changed or omitted.

Hereinafter, the term " therapeutic laser device " includes all laser devices for treating mammals including humans. That is, the therapeutic laser device may include various laser devices used for the purpose of improving the state of a lesion or tissue.

Hereinafter, the term " tissue " refers to a collection of cells constituting various body organs of an animal including a human, and includes various tissues constituting various organs of the body including skin tissue.

Hereinafter, a laser device for skin treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

1 is a view illustrating a laser apparatus for skin treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1, the laser apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a main body 10, a handpiece 20, and a connection portion 30 connecting the main body 10 and the handpiece 20.

The main body 10 forms the main skeleton of the laser device for skin treatment, and various components are installed inside. A light generating unit 100 for generating therapeutic light, and various optical elements for transmitting therapeutic light generated in the light generating unit. On the outer surface of the main body 10, a control panel 11 for manipulating the treatment contents and a display 12 for displaying various information to the user may be provided.

The handpiece 20 has a shape that can be grasped by a user by hand. The user can change the treatment position while holding the handpiece 20 in his / her hand and proceed with the treatment. The handpiece 20 is configured to include a light irradiation unit 200 for irradiating the therapeutic light described below to the target position of the patient. An operation part (21) for adjusting the operation of the handpiece is provided on the outer surface of the handpiece. Further, a separate cooling unit (not shown) may be further included to prevent thermal damage to the patient's skin during treatment. In addition, it may further include a displacement sensor (not shown) for detecting the movement displacement of the handpiece during treatment or a temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting the temperature of the surface of the skin during treatment.

The connecting portion 30 connects the above-described main body and the handpiece. A light transmitting part 300 such as an optical fiber forming a light path from the light generating part 100 to the light irradiating part 200 is provided in the connection part 30 and a control part 400 or a manipulating part 21 And a signal line 31 for transmitting various control signals.

2 is a block diagram schematically showing the main configuration of FIG. Hereinafter, with reference to Fig. 2, each configuration shown in Fig. 1 will be described in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, a light generating part 100 is provided inside the main body 10. The light generating unit 100 includes a resonator capable of oscillating a laser, and the configuration of an example of the light generating unit is shown in more detail in FIG.

7, the resonator includes a laser medium 111, and reflection members 112 and 113 may be provided at both ends of the laser medium. And may include various optical elements such as a shutter 114 and a lens (see Fig. 2). The laser medium is excited by the adjacently disposed flash lamp 115, and the excited light is amplified while being reciprocated inside the resonator to generate laser light. The electric circuit connected to the flash lamp 115 includes a charge energy control unit 116 for charging the capacitor 117 with electric energy and a discharge current control unit 118 for selectively opening and closing the path of the current from the capacitor to the flash lamp 115 ). A current sensor 119 is provided on the circuit through which the current is transmitted, and the circuit can be controlled in consideration of this. Through this circuit, a current is delivered to the flash lamp 115, and the flash lamp selectively flashes to oscillate the laser medium. Therefore, by controlling the current waveform transmitted to the flash lamp through the electric circuit control, the pulse shape of the light generated in the light generating portion can be controlled. However, the structure of such a light generating part can be constructed using various structures capable of generating a laser, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The light generating part 100 of this embodiment can use Nd (YAG) or Alexandrite as the laser medium 111. Therefore, the treatment light generated in the light generating unit 100 may be a laser having a wavelength (Nd: YAG) in the range of 1060 nm to 1070 nm or a laser having a wavelength in the range of 750 nm to 760 nm (more specifically, a wavelength of about 1064 nm Or a laser having a wavelength of approximately 755 nm. However, the laser device according to the present embodiment selectively uses a wavelength that is effective for rejuvenation or pigment lesion of the skin, and the light generating part may be constructed using a laser medium that generates other wavelengths It is possible.

One end of the light generating part 100 is connected to the light irradiation part 200 of the handpiece by the light transmitting part 300. Therefore, the therapeutic light generated in the light generating part 100 is transmitted to the light irradiation part 200 of the handpiece along the light transmitting part 300. The light irradiating unit 200 includes a focusing optical system, focuses the therapeutic light transmitted from the light transmitting unit, and irradiates the therapeutic light to a target position of the patient's skin. The optical transmission unit 300 may be composed of at least one optical fiber, or may have a variety of structures including a plurality of relay lenses to transmit light.

On the other hand, the laser apparatus of this embodiment includes a control unit 400 that controls each component. The control unit 400 controls the operation of the laser device in accordance with contents set by the user through the control panel 11, content manipulated by the user through the manipulation unit 21 of the handpiece, or contents stored in the self memory (not shown) Can be controlled.

As an example, the control unit 400 may control the operation of the light generating unit to control the irradiation patterns and parameters of the treatment light. The pattern and parameters of the laser irradiated by the light generating part 100 can be adjusted by controlling the operation of the flash lamp which excites the laser medium and the operation of various optical elements such as the shutter. Therefore, the control unit 400 can control the generation of the treatment light, the output of the treatment light, the frequency of the treatment light, and the laser waveform of the treatment light by controlling the operation of these components.

In addition, the control unit can control the cooling operation of the cooling unit of the handpiece in addition to the light generating unit, or receive the information sensed by the various sensors of the handpiece, and control the treatment contents in various ways.

3 is a graph showing the pattern of the treatment light irradiated by the laser apparatus of FIG. Hereinafter, the treatment light of the laser device according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

As shown in Fig. 3, the treatment light according to the present embodiment is composed of laser pulses P having a predetermined period. Each laser pulse P may be constituted by a pulse train including at least two or more unit pulses (U).

Generally, when a continuous laser is used as the therapeutic light, energy is accumulated in the skin tissue as the therapeutic light is irradiated, and it is liable to cause tissue damage. In contrast, in the case of using the therapeutic light with the pulsed laser, it is possible to prevent the thermal damage of the skin from occurring by adjusting the pulse duration. However, in the case of using a basic pulsed laser, there is a limit in maintaining a uniform temperature at the target position during the treatment or proceeding treatment to the local position.

As an example, consider a case where treatment is performed in which the target position should be maintained at a certain level or higher for a predetermined holding time. When the treatment light is made of a basic pulsed laser, energy is accumulated during the pulse duration of each pulse, and if the retention time is a long-needed treatment, the temperature of the end point of each pulse may rise more than the temperature of the start point There is nothing. In this case, as the energy accumulates at the target position, the adjacent tissue at the target position also has to suffer thermal damage.

In the comparison, as shown in Figure 3, when a laser consisting of a pulse type including a plurality of unit pulses (U), pulse duration, even nations acid As done during the off time (U _o) between the respective unit pulsed target position It is possible to prevent the accumulation of energy continuously. Therefore, it is possible to keep the temperature of the target position uniform by adjusting the parameters of the unit pulse U. Further, since the temperature of the target position is uniformly maintained during the pulse duration (P _d ), the occurrence of thermal damage to the adjacent tissue at the target position can be minimized, and local treatment can be performed.

Specifically, the treatment light according to the present embodiment is configured in such a pattern that the laser pulse P is periodically irradiated. This laser pulse P may be configured to be irradiated at a frequency of 15 Hz or less, and more specifically, to be irradiated at a frequency in the range of 6 to 12 Hz.

The laser pulse P may be configured to have a pulse duration time P _d of 10 to 70 ms, and more specifically, to have a pulse duration of 20 to 40 ms. The pulse off time (P _o ) between each laser pulse can be configured to have at least 1.2 times the pulse duration (P _d ).

Fig. 4 is a graph specifically showing a pattern of each laser pulse in Fig. As shown in Fig. 4, each laser pulse P includes n unit pulses U (n? 2). Although FIG. 4 shows an example in which one laser pulse P is composed of 10 unit pulses U, the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition to this, one laser pulse may be composed of 2 to 20 unit pulses (2? N? 20).

Each unit pulse U may be configured to have a unit pulse duration U _d of 50 to 500 μs. The off-time between unit pulses, that is, the unit pulse off time (U _o ), is set so that the energy delivered by each unit pulse can be re- U _d ) by at least five times longer than the time required for the operation.

More specifically, the unit pulse may be configured to have a unit pulse duration (U _d ) of 80 to 200 μs, and the unit pulse off time (U _o ) may be configured to have a time longer than 10 times the unit pulse duration .

The treatment light according to the present embodiment can be variously configured on the basis of the above-mentioned parameters, and the following table shows two concrete parameters reflecting the treatment light.

division Laser medium wavelength Laser pulse frequency P _d U _d Number of pulses per pulse Application example 1 Nd: YAG 1064 nm 10Hz 30ms 100 μs 15 Application example 2 Alexandrite 755 nm 10Hz 30ms 100 μs 10

However, in addition to this, the user can configure the laser pulse parameter of the treatment light through the control panel 11. [ For example, when the user sets the laser pulse frequency, the pulse duration (P _d ), the number of unit pulses per pulse, and the unit pulse duration (U _d ) of the therapeutic light through the control panel 11, (P _o ) and unit pulse off time (U _o ) are automatically set to complete the treatment light parameter. As described above, it is also possible to configure the treatment light pattern so that the user directly adjusts the treatments in consideration of the treatment contents.

Hereinafter, a laser apparatus for skin treatment according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted, however, that detailed description is omitted in order to avoid duplication of configurations and corresponding features of the above-described embodiments.

5 is a graph showing one laser pulse of treatment light irradiated in the laser apparatus for skin treatment according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the above-described embodiment, n unit pulses constituting one laser pulse are all configured to have the same output. In contrast, in the present embodiment, the output of the unit pulse constituting one laser pulse can be gradually reduced.

As shown in FIG. 5, one laser pulse P includes a first unit pulse U ₁ , a second unit pulse U ₂ , an n-th unit pulse U _n , Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > n < / RTI > The output of one of the unit pulses may be configured to be equal to or smaller than the output of the first irradiated unit pulse. Thereby, the first unit pulse U ₁ to be irradiated first can be irradiated so as to have an output higher than the _n th unit pulse U _n irradiated last.

As such, when the output of the unit pulse U constituting one laser pulse P gradually decreases, it may be more advantageous to maintain the temperature of the target position uniformly during the pulse duration. Even if the laser pulse is composed of a plurality of unit pulses, there is a possibility that minute residual heat accumulates as the unit pulse is repeatedly irradiated. Therefore, since there may be residual heat accumulated at the time when one laser pulse ends, the output of the first pulse that is irradiated first among the plurality of unit pulses sequentially irradiated can be configured to be the highest. However, in order to prevent an excessive output deviation, the output of the _n th unit pulse U _n can maintain 80% or more of the output of the first unit pulse U ₁ .

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the results of measuring the waveform of the output of the laser lamp current and the flash lamp according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to control the output of each unit pulse according to the present embodiment in such a manner that the magnitude of the current flowing through the flash lamp for pumping the laser medium is controlled.

In the foregoing, a plurality of embodiments according to the present invention have been described in detail. As described above, when the treatment light is structured in such a manner that a laser pulse composed of a plurality of unit pulses is periodically irradiated, it is possible to uniformly treat the temperature of the target position and minimize the influence on adjacent tissues .

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Leave.

1: Laser device 10:
20: handpiece 100: light generating unit
200: light irradiation unit 400:

Claims (12)

A light generator; And
And a light irradiating unit for irradiating the treatment light generated by the light generating unit to the surface of the skin,
Wherein the treatment light is composed of laser pulses irradiated at a predetermined cycle, each laser pulse including at least two or more unit pulses,
One of the laser pulses is composed of n unit pulses including first through n th unit pulses sequentially irradiated,
The first unit pulse to be irradiated most forward has a higher output than the n th unit pulse to be irradiated last,
Wherein the output of the n-th unit pulse is at least 80% of the output of the first unit pulse. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the treatment light is composed of laser pulses irradiated at a frequency of 15 Hz or less. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the laser pulses of the treatment light each have a pulse duration of 10 ms to 70 ms. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the laser pulse comprises at least 2 to 20 unit pulses. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the unit pulse has a pulse duration of 50 mu s to 200 mu s. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a pulse off time between the plurality of laser pulses is 10 times longer than a unit pulse off time between unit pulses. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the treatment light is composed of a laser having a wavelength in the range of 1060 nm to 1070 nm or a wavelength in the range of 750 nm to 760 nm. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the treatment light comprises laser pulses generated by a laser medium in an Nd: YAG or Alexandrite laser medium. delete delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the output of any one of the n unit pulses constituting one laser pulse is equal to or smaller than the output of the irradiated unit pulse first. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the treatment light treats pigment lesions of the skin or improves skin elasticity.

Images