KR20140111770A - High intensity focused ultrasound generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a high intensity focused ultrasonic wave generating apparatus which can measure an impedance on skin adhered during a surgical procedure and thus control an output of a high intensity focused ultrasonic wave in order to maximize a surgical effect, considering that skin conditions are different for patients. An embodiment of the present invention provides a high intensity focused ultrasonic wave generating apparatus, which includes: a body; a focused ultrasonic wave conversion unit built in the body and irradiating a high intensity focused ultrasonic wave to the outside of the body; a skin impedance measurement unit provided in the body and measuring impedance of skin which is a surgical portion; and a control unit for feeding back a value measured by the skin impedance measurement unit and controlling an output of the focused ultrasonic wave conversion unit.

Description

HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND GENERATING DEVICE [0002]

The present invention relates to a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus, and more particularly, to a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus capable of measuring an impedance of a skin region adhered to a patient during a procedure, Generating device.

Generally, a high-intensity focused ultrasonic wave generating apparatus is a device that incorporates a transducer that emits ultrasonic waves, and generates heat by focusing the ultrasonic waves at a set focus.

In recent years, the use of such a high-intensity focused ultrasonic wave has been proved as an effect of improving skin wrinkles, and thus it has attracted attention as an alternative to the conventional invasive surgical method.

High-intensity focused ultrasound does not act on the epidermis of the skin and induces coagulation in the superficial Musculo aponeurotic system (SMAS), which is part of the muscle layer, and transfers heat to the deep part of the dermis. As a result, the collagen regeneration of the dermal layer is actively carried out, thereby bringing about an effect of improving the skin elasticity as well as the wrinkle removing effect.

However, according to the method using such a high-intensity focused ultrasound, it is important to transmit heat to the deep portion of the muscular and dermal layers without attenuation of ultrasonic energy.

However, the attenuation of ultrasonic energy is known to be proportional to the protein content of the tissue and inversely proportional to the water content. It is also known that the ultrasonic frequency is proportional to the absorption coefficient attenuation.

However, in the prior art, a high-intensity focused ultrasound wave having a constant value has been used without considering the different skin conditions for each patient to be treated.

Accordingly, when the ultrasound energy of the set value is excessively stronger than the skin condition of the patient, the problem of skin damage is caused. On the contrary, when the ultrasound energy is weak compared with the skin condition of the patient, There was a falling problem.

Prior art related to the present invention is Korean Patent Publication No. 2012-0081384 (published on July 19, 2012), which discloses a high-intensity focused ultrasound control method using a frequency change and a high-intensity focused ultrasound A description of a device is disclosed.

The present invention relates to a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating device capable of maximizing a treatment effect by checking the skin condition in real time through measurement of skin impedance during a procedure using high-intensity ultrasound considering the skin condition of each patient (for example, patient) Lt; / RTI >

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned here can be understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a high intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus comprising: a body; A focused ultrasound transducer incorporated in the body and irradiating a high-intensity focusing ultrasonic wave to the outside of the body; A skin impedance measuring unit provided on the body part for measuring an impedance of the skin, which is a treatment area; And a controller for feeding back the measured value from the skin impedance measuring unit and controlling the output of the focused ultrasonic wave converting unit.

The skin impedance measuring unit may include: an impedance measuring sensor for measuring an impedance value of the skin; And a wire / wireless communication interface device for transmitting a value measured by the impedance measurement sensor to the controller.

The impedance measuring unit may include an impedance measuring sensor for measuring an impedance value of the skin, and the impedance measuring sensor includes at least a pair of line-type electrodes spaced apart from each other on a lower surface of the body.

The impedance measuring unit may include an impedance measuring sensor for measuring an impedance value of the skin, and the impedance measuring sensor may include a point type electrode disposed on the lower surface corners of the body.

The controller may compare the impedance measurement value received from the skin impedance measurement unit with a preset reference value, and control the output of the focused ultrasound conversion unit by discriminating between the compared values.

The body portion may include a coupling hole into which the connecting block is inserted in a longitudinal direction so as to be detachably attached to a handpiece having a connecting block protruding forward, and the high intensity focusing ultrasonic wave generating device may include: And an image acquiring unit for acquiring image information of the skin to be performed by the focused ultrasound converting unit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to maximize the surgical effect by measuring the impedance of the skin during the procedure using the high-intensity focused ultrasonic wave, considering that the skin condition differs depending on the treatment subject (e.g. patient).

For example, it is possible to solve problems such as skin damage that occur when the ultrasound energy used in the operation is excessively high as compared with the skin condition of the patient, and in the opposite case, the ultrasound energy The problem that the effect of the treatment does not become conspicuous can be solved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a measurement sensor capable of measuring skin impedance can be disposed on a lower surface side of a body part that is detachably attached to a handpiece, thereby simplifying the structure of the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view briefly showing an overall configuration of a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view illustrating a structure of a high intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a body part is detachably attached to a handpiece, and a part of the components are coupled and separated. FIG.
3 is a conceptual diagram of a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an operation state of a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing two exemplary embodiments in which an impedance measurement sensor is attached in a high intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments disclosed below but may be embodied in various different forms. The embodiments to be described herein are provided so that the disclosure of the present invention is complete and that those skilled in the art will fully understand the scope of the present invention. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention.

Before describing the high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to the present invention, the features of the ultrasound procedure used in various fields such as medical or cosmetics will be briefly described.

First, ultrasonic waves have permeation and reflection properties. Therefore, the irradiated ultrasound is used as a means of acquiring a cross-sectional image by visualizing the time and intensity of reflected light while transmitting organs of the human body. Second, the ultrasonic wave has a mechanical effect of applying ultrasonic vibration for surgical operation (particularly, cutting) to a surgical knife. Third, the sound pressure of the ultrasonic waves generates fine bubbles in the fluid as they pass through the fluid, and the bubbles generated by the ultrasonic waves are realized as shockwaves of a high pressure type as the bubbles expand and rupture. This is accompanied by a strong shearing force. Fourth, ultrasound is transferred into tissue and absorbed and converted into heat energy. Ultrasound with sufficient energy can cause a rapid temperature rise in the tissue, which is called the thermal effect of ultrasound.

Ultrasound therapy is a medical device that utilizes the thermal effects of such ultrasound. Among them, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound is a type in which the intensity of ultrasound generated from an ultrasonic transducer is focused at a constant focus.

High-intensity focused ultrasound does not directly act on the epidermis of the skin. It induces the coagulation action on the superficial Musculo aponeurotic system (SMAS), which is a part of the muscle layer. It also transfers heat to the deep part of the dermis, Improves elasticity.

However, the condition of the skin differs depending on the subject (eg patient). That is, there is a difference in skin condition such as soft or rough skin, thick or thin skin layer, high or low water content, high or low fat.

However, in the case of a procedure using high intensity focused ultrasound performed up to now, the procedure is performed using a predetermined value of ultrasonic waves while ignoring the difference in skin condition. According to the present invention, when the ultrasound energy is excessively stronger than the skin condition of the patient, the skin is damaged. On the contrary, when the ultrasound energy is weaker than the skin condition of the patient, A problem appeared.

The high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus to be described below is a device designed to solve the inconvenience described above, and it is a device that takes into account the fact that the skin condition is different depending on the subject to be treated. In the course of performing the procedure using the high-intensity focused ultrasound, To maximize the effect of the procedure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view briefly showing a configuration of an entire treatment apparatus including a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the whole treatment apparatus includes a main body 10, a display device 21 and an operation panel 23 provided on upper and lower sides of the main body, and a handpiece 30 connected through a cable from the main body.

Here, the display device 21 provides a function of monitoring an image of a point in the skin to be treated or visually transmitting a skin impedance measurement value to the user. The operation panel 23 provides functions such as power on / off and output control of a focused ultrasonic wave converting unit to be described later.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view illustrating a structure in which a body is detachably attached to a handpiece of a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a), a connecting block 32 is provided in a protruding shape in front of the illustrated handpiece 30, and the connecting block 32 is disposed on the inner side of the body 110 And is inserted through the coupling hole 110a provided.

With such a structure, the body 110 can be detached and attached to the handpiece 30 in a cartridge manner.

An image acquisition unit 190 is installed inside the connection block 32. The image acquisition unit 190 will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, referring to FIG. 2 (b), it is possible to specifically confirm that the body 110 is mounted on the handpiece 30.

At this time, a movement display unit I may be further provided on one side of the body part 110 so that a practitioner can confirm the distance that the ultrasonic transducer moves through a scale.

3 is a conceptual diagram of a high intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The high intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus 100 includes a body 110, a focused ultrasound converting unit 130, a skin impedance measuring unit 150, and a controller 170.

As shown in FIG. 2, the body 110 is detachably attached to a handpiece (reference numeral 30 in FIG. 2) by a cartridge method. The body 110 includes a focused ultrasound converting unit 130 and a skin impedance measuring unit 150 And an outer housing member.

2, the body 110 may be provided with a coupling hole 110a through which the extension block (32 in FIG. 2) of the handpiece is inserted, corresponding to the extension block.

In addition, a linear guide may be provided on the inner upper portion of the body 110 so as to guide the forward and backward movement of the focused ultrasound transducer 130. The transfer mechanism of the focused ultrasound converting unit 130 can be implemented through a configuration such as a linear motor, a connecting joint, and a plurality of gears, which are commonly known.

In addition, a support base 113 for supporting and connecting the linear guide and the focusing ultrasonic wave converting unit 130, which are not shown, may be further provided in the body 110.

The focused ultrasound converting unit 130 is embedded in the body 110 and irradiates ultrasound focused at a high intensity toward a set focus F of a treatment site.

The focused ultrasound converting unit 130 is collectively referred to as a transducer. The cross-sectional structure has a concave shape, and a focal point F at which the ultrasonic waves are focused is formed at the center of curvature radius of the concave cross-section.

Meanwhile, the focused ultrasound transducer 130 is disposed downward from the inside of the hermetically sealed body 110, and the internal space of the hermetically sealed body 110 may be filled with water. The filled water functions as a medium for transferring the ultrasonic waves irradiated by the focused ultrasound transducer 130 to the skin to be treated, and also serves to cool the heat generated by the high intensity focused ultrasonic waves to an appropriate level.

A transparent window 113 is provided on the lower opening of the body 110 to focus the ultrasound emitted from the focused ultrasound transducer 130 toward the focal point F. [

The skin impedance measuring unit 150 is provided on the lower surface of the body portion which is in close contact with the skin, which is a treatment site. Therefore, the impedance of the skin can be measured in real time during the procedure using high-intensity focused ultrasound.

3, the skin impedance measuring unit 150 includes an impedance measuring sensor 151 and a wire / wireless communication interface device (not shown) for feeding back the impedance value measured by the impedance measuring sensor to the controller 170, (153).

According to the procedure using the high-intensity focused ultrasound performed up to now, it is general that a high-intensity focused ultrasound wave having a set value is irradiated to the skin without considering the difference in the skin condition for each treatment subject (for example, patient) .

However, the skin condition varies greatly depending on the patient. That is, the skin condition of each patient is smooth or rough, or the skin layer is thick or thin, or watery or less, or that there are many or fewer fats.

Therefore, in order to prevent damage to the skin during the procedure using the high-intensity focused ultrasound and to maximize the effect of the procedure, confirmation of the condition of the skin to be treated must be performed.

The skin impedance measuring unit 150 measures the skin impedance of the subject to measure the moisture content in the skin. That is, the skin condition can be checked before or during the treatment.

The impedance measurement sensor 151 is a sensor that measures the impedance value of the skin under treatment in real time (or at a set time interval) by high-intensity focused ultrasonic waves.

5 (a), the impedance measuring sensors may include a pair of line-type electrodes 151a and 151b arranged side by side along both side edges of the lower surface of the body 110, ). ≪ / RTI >

5 (b), the impedance measuring sensor may have a shape of a point-type electrode 151c disposed at least one corner of the lower surface of the body 110 .

According to such embodiments, impedance values measured at a plurality of skin impedance measurement sites or points can be simultaneously measured. At this time, the measured impedance values are transmitted to the controller 170 using the wire / wireless communication interface device 153, Lt; / RTI >

The control unit 170 controls the output of the focused ultrasound converting unit by feeding back the measured value from the skin impedance measuring unit.

When the skin impedance value measured by the skin impedance measuring unit 150 is transmitted to the controller 170, the controller 170 compares the preset reference value with the received real-time measurement value, identifies the magnitude difference, (130).

It is also possible to manually control the output of the ultrasonic transducer 130 by using the operation panel 23 provided in the apparatus main body (10 in Fig. 1) separate from the controller 170 Do.

In this case, the user directly monitors the value measured by the skin impedance measuring unit 150 through a display device (reference numeral 21 in Fig. 1) provided on the apparatus main body, so that the output of the high intensity focused ultrasonic wave can be appropriately controlled have.

According to the high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the handpiece (reference numeral 30 in FIG. 2) previously described with reference to FIG. 2 is provided for detachment and attachment between the body 110 And the image acquisition unit 190 is incorporated in the connection block 32. [

The image obtaining unit 190 is an image input device capable of detecting image information of the skin during the procedure through the output control of the focused ultrasound converting unit 130. [

The image information detected by the image acquiring unit 190 is transmitted to the user through a display device (reference numeral 21 in FIG. 1) provided in the apparatus main body (reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1).

Next, an operation and effect of the high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an operation principle of a high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, when the body 110 is brought into close contact with the skin S to be treated, the impedance measurement of the contacting skin is performed by a pair of impedance measurement sensors 151 provided below the body 110 .

The measured skin impedance value is important information for confirming the moisture state in the skin. The measured value is output as a signal (?) Which can be transmitted in a wired / wireless manner via the wired / wireless communication interface 153.

When the output signal (?) Is fed back to the controller (170), the difference between the skin impedance measured through the impedance measuring sensor (151) and the predetermined reference value is determined.

In this case, the 'reference value' can be set to the average skin impedance value of a general person. It can be further subdivided to set different reference values for sexes according to gender, and different reference values may be set according to age It is acceptable.

On the other hand, the control unit 170 can grasp the skin condition to be treated according to the discrimination based on the reference value. As a result, the output of the high-intensity focused ultrasonic wave corresponding to the skin is controlled. To this end, the control signal (c) is applied to the focused ultrasound converting unit 130.

According to the output control of the high-intensity focused ultrasonic wave through the measurement of the skin impedance value, it is possible to perform an effective treatment suited to the skin to be treated.

For example, if it is determined that the output of the focused ultrasound is harder than the skin condition to be treated, the output can be weakly controlled to prevent damage to the skin. In the opposite case, when the output of the focused ultrasonic wave is judged to be weaker than the skin condition to be treated, the output can be strongly controlled in order to maximize the treatment effect.

On the other hand, the high-intensity focused ultrasound whose output is controlled as described above penetrates to the surface of the skin S to be treated at a certain depth d and is focused at a single focus F. Here, the depth d at which the focal point is formed may be varied depending on the purpose of the procedure, but may be about 2.0 to 4.5 mm, for example. However, the range of the depth (d) shown here does not limit the present invention.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, skin impedance measurement can be performed in real time during a procedure using a high-intensity focused ultrasonic wave in consideration of a difference in skin condition between patients to be treated, thereby maximizing a surgical effect.

In addition, an electrode capable of measuring skin impedance can be disposed on the lower surface of the body part detachably attached to the handpiece by a cartridge method, thereby simplifying the device structure. Furthermore, the cost for purchasing a device for measuring skin impedance separately from the high intensity focused ultrasound generating device can be reduced.

The high-intensity focused ultrasound generating apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

The terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary meanings and the inventor should appropriately interpret the concept of the term appropriately in order to describe its invention in the best way. Should be construed in accordance with the principle of being able to define the meaning and concept in accordance with the technical idea of the present invention.

It should be noted that the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all the technical ideas of the present invention, It should be understood that various equivalents and modifications are possible.

F: Focus
10: Body
21: display device 23: operation panel
30: handpiece 32: connecting block
100: High intensity focused ultrasound generating device
110: body portion 110a: engaging hole
111: transmission window 113: support
130: focused ultrasound converting unit
150: Skin impedance measuring unit 151: Impedance measuring sensor
151a, 151b, 151c: electrode 153: communication interface device
170:
190: Image acquisition unit

Claims (6)

A body portion;
A focused ultrasound transducer incorporated in the body and irradiating a high-intensity focusing ultrasonic wave to the outside of the body;
A skin impedance measuring unit provided on the body part for measuring an impedance of the skin, which is a treatment area; And
And a controller for feeding back the measured value from the skin impedance measuring unit and controlling the output of the focused ultrasound converting unit.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the skin impedance measuring unit comprises:
An impedance measuring sensor for measuring an impedance value of the skin; And
And a wire / wireless communication interface device for transmitting a value measured by the impedance measurement sensor to the control unit.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the impedance measuring unit includes an impedance measuring sensor for measuring an impedance value of the skin,
And the impedance measuring sensor includes at least a pair of line-type electrodes spaced from each other on a lower surface of the body.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the impedance measuring unit includes an impedance measuring sensor for measuring an impedance value of the skin,
Wherein the impedance measuring sensor includes point type electrodes disposed on the lower surface corners of the body.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit compares the impedance measurement value received from the skin impedance measurement unit with a preset reference value and controls the output of the focused ultrasound converting unit by discriminating between the compared values.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the body portion has a coupling hole into which the connection block is inserted in an inner longitudinal direction so as to be detachably attached to a handpiece having a connection block protruding forward,
Wherein the high intensity focused ultrasound generating device further comprises an image acquiring unit embedded along the longitudinal direction of the connection block and acquiring image information of the skin to be performed by the focused ultrasound converting unit.

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