KR20110015986A - Laser beam irradiator for skin treatment and laser beam irradiation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus for irradiating laser beam for dermatotherapy and an irradiating method thereof are provided, which can remove a problem caused by randomly controlling an angle of a reflection angle of a reflection mirror. CONSTITUTION: An apparatus for irradiating laser beam for dermatotherapy comprises: a laser oscillating apparatus(10) which generates laser beam; a beam delivery part(20) transferring the laser beam generated from the laser oscillating apparatus; and a laser scanner(30) which irradiates a laser beam delivered through the beam delivery part to the scan area of the skin and moves the location where the laser beam is irradiated within the scan area of the skin.

Description

Laser beam irradiator for skin treatment and laser beam irradiation method

The present invention relates to a laser beam irradiation apparatus and an irradiation method, in more detail laser beam irradiating the laser beam to the skin at a specific interval using a laser oscillation device and a laser scanner for the purpose of skin treatment, such as skin regeneration or wrinkle removal It relates to an irradiation apparatus and an irradiation method.

Nowadays, various laser treatment techniques for irradiating the laser beam to the skin for the purpose of treatment and the like have been developed, and medical laser devices for the use of laser treatment techniques have also been actively studied.

Laser treatment techniques are used for various purposes such as preventing hair loss, promoting hair growth, skin peeling, skin regeneration, whitening, removing wrinkles and spots, and removing blemishes. There are differences, and even for the same purpose, there are differences in the conditions under which the laser beam is irradiated or the apparatus used.

For example, techniques for activating the dermal layer for wrinkle removal, skin regeneration, and the like are used to treat the entire treatment area with a laser, and to treat fine parts using a micro lens array or a laser scanner.

The method of treating the entire treatment area with a laser is a method of transmitting light energy from the epidermis to the dermis layer throughout the treatment area. Although the skin is widely regenerated, the risk is high due to the high energy transfer by the light energy. There are many side effects that are difficult to treat with severe pain in the area, and require long-term treatment and long recovery time.

In order to solve this problem, a method of irradiating a laser beam in the form of a spot is used, and in this case, a plurality of laser beam spots (micro laser beams) are formed using a micro lens array or a laser scanner.

The above-described skin treatment method can deliver significantly improved energy to a certain penetration depth while forming a micro treatment area, thereby significantly improving the sequelae compared to the entire treatment.

Meanwhile, in the case of a medical laser scanner, a method of irradiating a relatively large laser beam having a diameter of 1 mm or more over the entire skin area has been conventionally used. A technique for sparingly irradiating a micro laser beam has been used.

The laser increases the collagen synthesis in the skin to help the skin regenerate and restore the skin elasticity to improve wrinkles and wounds.However, when the micro fractionation technology using the Erbium laser is applied, the laser treatment is more precise and safer. As well as being possible, there is an advantage that a normal life is possible right after the procedure so that it does not need time to recover without hurting the skin.

In particular, the micro laser beam causes fine thermal damage to the skin tissue during the irradiation process, but does not cause scarring because it does not produce cavitation or hole of the skin tissue, and in a non-dermal manner, the epidermis from the epidermis to the dermis. Forms a micro-necrotic column of fine diameter penetrating to promote skin regeneration.

In the microfractionation technique, the micro laser beam is irradiated at a predetermined interval within a predetermined scan area of the skin by a laser scanner, and FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a laser treatment apparatus using the fractional technique, and FIG. FIG. 9 illustrates a state in which laser beams are irradiated at regular intervals within a specific scan area of the skin.

In the laser treatment apparatus as shown, rotatable reflecting mirrors 6 and 7 are used in the laser scanner 5 to irradiate laser beams at different intervals at different positions.

As an example, as shown, the two reflecting mirrors 6, 7, in which the laser scanner 5 rotates about the rotation axes 6b, 7b of the drive mechanism (eg galvanometer) 6a, 7a. When having a laser beam, the laser beam irradiated from the laser oscillation device 1 including the laser oscillation unit 2, the control unit 3 and the like is transmitted to the laser scanner 5 through the beam transmission unit 4 In the laser scanner 5, the laser beam transmitted through the beam transmitting unit 4 is sequentially reflected by the two reflecting mirrors 6 and 7 and finally irradiated to a specific position of the skin S.

At this time, the two reflection mirrors 6 and 7 are rotated about the rotation shafts 6b and 7b by the driving mechanisms 6a and 7a so that the laser beams can be irradiated at different intervals on the skin S. The irradiation position of the laser beam is moved in accordance with the rotational position (reflection angle) of the reflection mirrors 6 and 7.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example in which the laser beam irradiation is performed in another scan area S2 by moving the scan area S1 of the skin after the laser beam irradiation of the specific scan area is completed. The laser beam irradiation area may overlap when moving the area.

When the laser beam irradiation area (scan area) is overlapped in a specific part as described above, a problem occurs in which the laser beam is irradiated several times at a specific position in the overlapped area (a problem in which the laser beam is taken several times in one position), which causes heat May cause skin tissue damage at a specific location.

In order to prevent the problem that the laser beam is irradiated at a specific position as described above, as shown in the accompanying FIG. 4, the laser scanner, such as a reflection mirror, is vibrated while the laser beam is reflected to scan areas S1 to S3. The laser beam irradiation position is randomly set in the laser beam (the laser beam is randomly shot within a specific scan area of the skin by dropping the scanner), or the laser beam is irradiated randomly within the predetermined scan area (S1 to S3) of the skin. A technique for randomly adjusting the change of the reflection angle of the reflecting mirror to distribute the irradiation position of the laser beam has been suggested.

However, in order to vibrate the scanner 5, the reflection mirrors 6 and 7, the rotation shafts 6b and 7b, the drive mechanisms 6a and 7a, etc. must be vibrated, so that the number of parts due to the addition of vibration means or the like is excessive. There may be a problem of lifting, and also various problems may occur such that the scanner 5 is mechanically unstable due to vibration.

In addition, even in the case of randomly adjusting the change in the reflection angle of the reflection mirrors 6 and 7, there is a difficulty in controlling the components mechanically, such as randomly adjusting the angle of the reflection mirror during the irradiation of the laser beam. to be.

Therefore, the present invention has been invented to solve the above problems, it is possible to solve the problem of the method of vibrating the laser scanner, that is, excessive number of parts, cost increase, mechanical instability, random change of the angle of the reflection mirror It is an object of the present invention to provide a laser irradiation apparatus and irradiation method for the treatment of the skin that can solve the difficulty of mechanical control, which is a problem of the way of adjusting.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a laser oscillation device for generating and outputting a laser beam; A beam transmission unit for delivering a laser beam output from the laser oscillation device; And a laser scanner for irradiating a laser beam transmitted through the beam transmitting unit within a scan area of the skin, and moving a position at which the laser beam is irradiated within the scan area of the skin. The laser oscillation apparatus provides a laser irradiation apparatus for skin treatment, wherein the laser oscillation apparatus is driven to continuously change and output a pulse shape of a laser beam while being moved by a laser scanner.

In a preferred embodiment, the laser oscillation apparatus comprises: a laser diode module using a laser diode as a light source for generating a laser beam; A power supply unit for applying driving power for generating a laser beam to the laser diode module; And a controller configured to control driving of the power supply unit and the laser diode module to change a pulse shape of the laser beam output from the laser diode module.

Here, the laser oscillator is characterized in that the pulse width, the pulse period, the pulse and the interval between the pulses are driven to change randomly.

In addition, the present invention comprises the steps of generating a laser beam by the laser oscillation device; And irradiating the laser beam output from the laser oscillation device through a beam transmitter to irradiate the laser scanner within the scan area of the skin, but to move the position where the laser beam is irradiated within the scan area of the skin. It provides a laser irradiation method for the treatment of skin, characterized in that continuously changing the pulse shape of the laser beam output from the laser oscillation device while the laser beam irradiation position is moved by the laser scanner.

Here, the pulse width, pulse period, pulse and pulse interval of the laser beam output from the laser oscillation device is characterized in that it is changed randomly.

Accordingly, according to the laser irradiation apparatus and the irradiation method according to the present invention, by applying a method of continuously changing the shape of the laser pulse while the position to which the laser beam is irradiated in the scan area of the skin, by applying a method as in the prior art The problem caused by vibrating the scanner or adjusting the reflection angle of the reflection mirror in the scanner at random can be solved.

That is, it is realized through simpler and easier electrical control that randomly changes the shape of the laser pulse during the scan irradiation, thereby eliminating the problem of the method of vibrating the laser scanner, that is, the excessive number of parts, the cost increase, and the mechanical instability. The problem of the method of randomly changing the laser beam irradiation position of the laser scanner through mechanical control can be solved.

In addition, there is an advantage that the amount and intensity of the beam energy can be varied in each position where the laser beam is irradiated from the skin.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present invention, instead of the conventional method of vibrating the laser scanner or randomly adjusting the reflection angle of the reflection mirror in the laser scanner, the shape of the laser pulse is moved while the position where the laser beam is irradiated within a specific scan area of the skin is shifted. Use a method of continuous change.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the laser treatment apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a pulse change during the laser beam movement in the scan area in the laser treatment apparatus according to the present invention.

In addition, Figure 7 is attached in the present invention by changing the pulse width (Pulse width), pulse power (Pulse power), pulse interval (Pulse interval) in the irradiation position movement (scan movement) of the laser beam and the scan area (S1 ~ S3) Is a diagram illustrating a moving state of

As shown, the laser treatment apparatus according to the present invention uses a laser diode as a light source, and includes a laser oscillation apparatus 10 employing a laser diode, and the laser oscillation apparatus 10 includes a laser including a laser diode. A control unit 12 for controlling the driving of the diode module 11, the laser diode module 11, and the following power supply unit 13, and a power supply unit for applying driving power for generating a laser beam to the laser diode module 11. It is comprised including 13.

In addition, the laser treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a beam delivery unit 20 for delivering a laser beam output from the laser oscillation apparatus 10 and a laser beam delivered through the beam delivery unit 20 to the skin (S). It includes a laser scanner 30 for irradiating to.

The laser diode module 11 may be a known laser diode module in which the shape of the laser pulse is variously adjusted according to the current type applied from the power supply unit 13.

Here, the current applied from the power supply unit 13 to the laser diode module 11 so that the shape of the laser pulse generated from the laser diode module 11 can be controlled is equipped with a microprocessor which is commonly known in the art. It can be controlled by the control unit 12.

In addition, the laser scanner 30 may change the position of the laser beam transmitted from the laser oscillation apparatus 10 through the beam transmission unit 20 in a specific scan area S1 to S3 of the skin S to be incident. As a result, the irradiation position of the laser beam in the scan areas S1 to S3 is moved.

The laser scanner 30 may be a known laser scanner capable of changing the position at which the laser beam is irradiated. For example, the laser scanner 30 may be a laser scanner employing a rotatable reflective mirror.

In the above example, when the laser scanner 30 has two reflection mirrors that rotate about a rotation axis of a drive mechanism (eg, galvanometer), the laser beam irradiated from the laser oscillation device 10 is beamed. When delivered to the laser scanner 30 through the delivery unit 20, the laser scanner 30 in the laser scanner 30 is sequentially reflected from the two reflecting mirrors to the specific of the skin (S) Final survey to the location.

At this time, the two reflecting mirrors are rotated about the axis of rotation by the drive mechanism so that the laser beam can be irradiated at different positions on the skin, and the irradiation position of the laser beam is moved according to the rotational position (reflection angle) of the reflecting mirror. do.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the laser pulse is continuously changed so that the shape of the laser pulse is continuously changed while the position where the laser beam is irradiated by the laser scanner 30 is moved within the specific scan areas S1 to S3 of the skin S. The control unit 12 of the oscillation device 10 controls the driving of the power supply unit 13 and the laser diode module 11.

That is, the control unit 12 controls the current applied to the laser diode module 11 to generate the laser beam from the power supply unit 13, and the laser pulse generated from the laser diode module 11 through such current control. The shape of can be changed continuously.

Here, the control is made so that the pulse width, pulse power (output) of the laser pulse, pulse interval (pulse interval) are changed, and the form thereof is as illustrated in FIG. 6.

As shown, the pulse width, pulse power, and pulse interval of the laser pulse may be randomly changed while the position where the laser beam is irradiated by the laser scanner 30 is moved, and within the specific scan area S1 to S3. When the irradiation form is changed while continuously changing the pulse shape in the laser beam to complete the irradiation of the laser beam, it is moved to another scan area by the movement of the laser scanner 30.

Here, the amount of light energy is changed by changing the pulse width for each irradiation position, and the interval of irradiation positions is changed by changing the pulse interval, and the penetration depth of the laser beam is changed by changing the pulse power.

In this way, by changing the shape of the pulse, as well as the irradiation position, the amount of energy and the penetration position at each position is changed. According to this irradiation method, the following effects are obtained.

First, when the pulse width, the pulse power, and the pulse interval (the pulse period is constant when the pulse interval is constant when the pulse width is constant) are all fixed, the position where the laser beam is irradiated by the laser scanner moves at a constant speed. In a specific scan area of the skin, a certain amount and intensity of the laser beam will be irradiated at each irradiation position at regular intervals.

On the other hand, when the pulse interval is changed as in the present invention, the time point and the position at which the laser beam is irradiated in the scan areas S1 to S3 of the skin S are changed, and the pulse width and power are changed at each position. This results in a change in the amount of energy and the depth of penetration.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the irradiation of the specific scan areas S1 to S3 is completed, and the laser beam irradiation is made in another scan area by moving the scan area, the scan area where the laser beam irradiation was made earlier and later Even if the scan area where the laser beam irradiation is made overlaps in part, the positions where the laser beams are irradiated in the actual two scan areas (for example, S1 and S2, S2 and S3) overlap, that is, the laser is placed at a specific position in the overlapping area. It is possible to minimize the overlapping of the beam.

In addition, according to the method of randomly outputting the shape of the laser pulse, mechanical damage or instability can be solved as compared with changing the irradiation position of the laser beam mechanically as in the prior art, and the pulse shape is electrically controlled. The problem that can occur when the scan areas overlap in a simple and easy way can be solved, there is an advantage that can vary the amount and intensity of energy at each position.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a laser treatment apparatus using a fractional technique,

2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which laser beams are irradiated at regular intervals within a specific scan area of the skin;

3 is a view for explaining a problem according to the prior art, showing a portion overlapping when moving the scan area,

4 is a view for explaining a method of mechanically vibrating a laser scanner to randomly generate a laser beam irradiation position,

5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a laser treatment apparatus according to the present invention;

6 is a view illustrating a pulse change during the laser beam movement in the scan area in the laser treatment apparatus according to the present invention,

FIG. 7 is a view showing a irradiation position shift (scan shift) and a scan region shift state of a laser beam by varying pulse width, pulse power, and pulse interval in the present invention. FIG.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10 laser oscillator 11 laser diode module

12 control unit 13 power unit

20: beam transmission unit 30: laser scanner

S: skin S1, S2, S3: scan area

Claims (5)

A laser oscillation apparatus 10 for generating and outputting a laser beam; A beam transmission unit 20 for transmitting a laser beam output from the laser oscillation apparatus 10; The laser beam transmitted through the beam transfer unit 20 is irradiated in the scan areas S1 to S3 of the skin S, but the laser beam is irradiated in the scan areas S1 to S3 of the skin S. A laser scanner 30 to move the position; Wherein the laser oscillation apparatus 10 is driven to continuously change the pulse shape of the laser beam and output the laser beam while the position where the laser beam is irradiated is moved by the laser scanner 30. Laser irradiation device for. The method according to claim 1, The laser oscillation device 10 A laser diode module 11 using a laser diode as a light source for generating a laser beam; A power supply unit 13 for applying driving power for generating a laser beam to the laser diode module 11; A control unit 12 controlling the driving of the power supply unit 13 and the laser diode module 11 so that the pulse shape of the laser beam output from the laser diode module 11 is continuously changed; Laser irradiation apparatus for treating the skin, characterized in that it comprises a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The laser oscillation apparatus (10) is a laser beam irradiation apparatus for the treatment of the skin, characterized in that the pulse width, pulse period, pulse and the interval between the pulses are driven to change randomly as a pulse form of the laser beam. Generating and outputting a laser beam by the laser oscillation apparatus; Irradiating a laser beam output from the laser oscillation device through a beam transfer unit and irradiating the laser scanner within a scan area of the skin, wherein the position where the laser beam is irradiated within the scan area of the skin is moved; And a pulse shape of the laser beam output from the laser oscillation device while the position where the laser beam is irradiated is moved by the laser scanner. The method according to claim 4, And a pulse width, pulse period, pulse and pulse interval of the laser beam output from the laser oscillation device.

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