WO2009014312A1

WO2009014312A1 - An apparatus for treating skin

Info

Publication number: WO2009014312A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/002902
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dong-Chae Lee
Original assignee: Dosis M & M Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-07-26
Filing date: 2008-05-23
Publication date: 2009-01-29
Also published as: KR100842040B1

Abstract

Disclosed is a skin treating apparatus including a housing with a handle, a set of high-frequency electrodes coupled to a front end portion of the housing in an insertion manner for generating high-frequency energy when current flows, a laser unit disposed in the housing to generate a laser beam, an optical guide installed between the high-frequency electrodes to guide the laser beam, a plurality of infrared lamps arranged to protrude from the outer surface of the housing at regular intervals to generate infrared rays, a first cooling water block for dissipating the heat from the laser unit, a thermoelectric element for absorbing the heat generated from the high- frequency electrodes and the optical guide, a heat transferring member for transferring the heat outside the thermoelectric element, and a second cooling water block for performing heat exchange with the heat from the thermoelectric element and the heat transferring member.

Description

[DESCRIPTION] [Invention Title]

AN APPARATUS FOR TREATING SKIN

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a skin treating apparatus, and more particularly to a skin treating apparatus which is structured to simultaneously apply high-frequency energy, optical energy, and infrared rays to the skin, and thus can effectively treat the dermis while minimizing damage caused to the epidermis by maintaining the temperature of the epidermis at 5°C during treatment, which is accomplished by rapidly sinking heat generated from a high-frequency electrode and a laser unit using a thermoelectric element and cooling water which circulates.

[Background Art]

Recently, as physical appearance becomes more important in various social activities, people' s desire to maintain clean and tight skin is increasing.

Skin serves as a protective film to protect the human body from external stimulation by sunlight, wind, heat, chemical gas, or bacteria, and to prevent water and nutrients needed to keep the human body normal from escaping from the human body. Moreover, the skin also functions to adjust body temperature using blood vessels and sweat glands. The skin consists of the epidermis, which senses pain, heat, itchy, and flushing feelings, the dermis, the subcutaneous layers, and the adnexa, such as hair, toenails, fingernails, sweat glands, subcutaneous fat, and sebaceous glands.

The reason why the skin is elastic, smooth and wearproof is that collagenous fiber, which is made of collagen, which is gluey, and protein, and elastic fiber, which is made of elastin, are woven in a net form in the dermis. As people grow older, that is, as aging progresses or as the skin is exposed to ultraviolet ray for a longer time, the amount of the collagenous fiber and elastic fiber is decreased and the skin becomes loosened and wrinkled.

That is, when aging progresses, the skin and muscle, and particularly the skin and muscle around the eyes, which move a great deal, lose their elastic properties and thus become wrinkled. As a result, the eyelids sag and the skin beneath the eyes swells due to increased fat content. Moreover, stains, such as liver spots and freckles, appear on the face skin as melanin is deposited due to ultraviolet rays.

For this reason, recently people usually manage their skin by applying sunscreen to prevent their skin from being exposed to ultraviolet rays during outdoor activities or moisturizers to prevent their skin from being dried and to supply moisture to their skin. However, such treatment has limited ability to keep their skin healthy and clean. Further, the wrinkles, liver spots, freckles, and dark spots are unlikely to disappear naturally after they are formed.

Accordingly, a variety of whitening cream and essence products containing whitening agents such as arbutin and kojic acid, which suppresses the formation of melanin in order to prevent melanin from being generated and to eliminate deposited melanin, or containing AHA, BHA, or retinoid, which function to eliminate melanin deposited in keratin, have been developed and sold on the market .

However, in the case in which the skin is severely darkened or is dotted with black spots, it is unlikely that the original bright and clean skin can be recovered with only the use of the whitening products. Accordingly, some people use ointment containing hydroquinone having a high whitening effect, or get peeling treatment using chemicals in order to eliminate liver spots and dark areas. As a result, the skin of people who use such ointment or peeling treatments is sometimes damaged.

In addition, moles and freckles on the face can be removed in a simple manner by laser treatment. The moles and freckles are removed by laser treatment first, and are then treated again two months after the first laser treatment .

For the reason of the above-mentioned problems, laser peeling treatment using a laser is suggested. However, although the laser peeling treatment satisfactorily regenerates the skin, it is highly dangerous. Moreover, it is very difficult to perform the laser peeling treatment and takes a long time to treat and regenerate the skin.

In order to solve the above problem, techniques of realizing an improved skin treatment effect by combining optical energy generated from a laser device and radio frequency energy for skin treatment have been suggested.

The technique using high-frequency energy is a technique using a phenomenon in which a great deal of frictional heat is generated when ions in cells migrate between a positive electrode and a negative electrode while high-frequency current having a frequency of 0.3 to 0.8 MHz is applied to a living organ. The treatment using this technique is advantageous in that it simple, is capable of obtaining instantaneous effects in a relatively short time, gives less pain to a patient during treatment, and is not accompanied by side effects. For these reasons, it is known that this treatment can be applied to a wide variety of fields, such as skin care, dark circle treatment, and body fitting.

U. S. Patent 6,702,808 discloses a skin treating apparatus which treats the skin by simultaneously applying high-frequency energy and optical energy generated from a laser diode.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating the structure of a known skin treating apparatus using high-frequency energy and optical energy.

With reference to this figure, the known skin treating apparatus 10 includes high-frequency electrodes 12 which have a bipolar structure, generates high-frequency energy when current is applied thereto, and is installed at a center position of a front portion of a housing 11, a light source 13 which generates optical energy and is installed inside the housing 11, and an optical guide 14 which guides light beams emitted from the light source 13 and is installed between the high-frequency electrodes 12. The high-frequency electrodes 12, the light source 13, and a cooling water circulating pipe 15, which dissipates heat generated by the optical guide 14, are provided inside the housing 11. When treating the skin, the high- frequency electrodes 12 are in contact with the spot to be treated to increase the temperature of the skin, and a light beam from the light source is guided through the optical guide 14 and radiated on the spot to be treated.

However, as is clearly visible in the graph shown in FIG. 2, the known skin treating apparatus 10 using the high-frequency energy and the optical energy is structured in a manner such that the heat generated from the high- frequency electrodes 12, the light source 13, and the optical guide 14 is removed by the cooling water. Accordingly, the cooling speed for cooling the high-frequency electrodes 12, the light source 13, and the optical guide 14 using the cooling water is lower than the cooling speed of the contact surface between the high-frequency electrodes 12 and the skin.

During the treatment, until the high-frequency electrodes 12 are cooled to an optimum temperature of 5?C, the high-frequency electrodes 12 are detached from the skin and then cooled to the optimum temperature. After that, the high-frequency electrodes 12 come into contact with the skin. The attachment and detachment operations of the high-frequency electrodes 12 are frequently repeated. In the state in which the high-frequency electrodes 12 are not continuously in contact with the skin, impedance matching between the high-frequency electrodes 12 and the skin is not accomplished, and thus the skin resistance is increased.

As the skin resistance is increased, the temperature of the epidermis is increased. As a result, unexpected damage is caused to the epidermis, and treatment is not effectively conducted.

With the known skin treating apparatus, since the high-frequency electrodes are not in contact with the skin, even in the case in which impedance matching between the high-frequency electrodes and the skin is not smoothly accomplished, the high-frequency current and the optical energy are applied to the skin. Accordingly, it is very dangerous to use the skin treating apparatus.

In order to solve this problem, the applicant of the present patent application suggested an improved skin treating apparatus in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0040550.

The skin treating apparatus 30 is connected to a system body 60 and thus is powered. Further, cooling water is circulated through a first cooling water block 44 and a second cooling water block 50. In this state, an operator holds a handle 32a and turns on an operation switch 52 so that front ends of the high-frequency electrodes 34 come into close contact with the skin of a patient. In this state, a laser beam is emitted from the laser unit 38 and is radiated on the spot of the epidermis to be treated through the optical guide 40. As a result, the temperature of the spot of the epidermis is increased.

At this time, current is applied to the high-frequency electrodes 34 and thus high-frequency current intensively stimulates the spot of the epidermis to be treated. As a result, the skin is treated.

At this time, a laser beam having a wavelength of 910 to 920 nm is emitted from the laser unit 38, and high-frequency current having a frequency of 0.8 to 1.2 MHz flows out from the high-frequency electrodes 34. In the case in which both the laser beam and the high-frequency current are applied to the spot of the skin, the laser beam functions to guide the high-frequency current to intensively flow to the target tissue.

As the current is applied, infrared rays having a wavelength of 780 to 1500 nm are emitted from infrared lamps. The infrared rays raise the temperature of the epidermis, expand blood vessels, and prompt blood circulation. Moreover, they penetrate deep into the skin, stimulate the metabolism of the target tissue, and facilitate the functions of cells. Accordingly, the treatment effect is remarkably enhanced.

Meanwhile, if the high-frequency electrodes 34 and the laser unit 38 are driven, heat having a high temperature is generated. The heat generated from the laser unit 38 is removed by the heat exchanging action with the cooling water circulating through the first cooling water block 44.

The heat generated from the high-frequency electrodes 34 and the optical guide 40 is absorbed by a thermoelectric element 46 first, and then the remaining heat is transferred to the second cooling water block 50 installed near the thermoelectric element 46. Accordingly, by the heat exchanging action with the cooling water circulating through the second cooling water block 50, the high-frequency electrodes 34 and the optical guide 40 are rapidly removed and thus the high-frequency electrodes 34 and the optical guide 40 are cooled to a temperature of 5?C, which is an optimum surface temperature.

At this time, the heat absorbed by the thermoelectric element 46 is transferred to the second cooling water block through the thermoelectric element 46. In addition, the heat is also transferred to the second cooling water block 50 through a heat transferring member installed to be close to the outer surface of the thermoelectric element 46. Accordingly, the cooling speed is increased.

When the skin treating apparatus operates in the above-described manner, if the operation switch 52 is turned off, the operation of the skin treating apparatus is stopped.

On the other hand, in the case in which the impedance matching between the high-frequency electrodes 34 and the skin is not smoothly accomplished because the high-frequency electrodes 34 are separated from the skin, weak current flows for several milliseconds and whether the high-frequency electrodes 34 are in contact with the skin is checked. When the high- frequency electrodes 34 are not in contact with the skin, high-frequency current does not flow to and the laser light is not radiated on the skin. Accordingly, the skin treating apparatus has improved safety.

As described above, the skin treating apparatus for which the present applicant applied for a patent is advantageous in that it is possible to obtain efficient skin treatment effect by the use of the high-frequency electrodes 34, the optical guide 40, and the laser unit 38, and it is possible to effectively cool down parts of the skin treating apparatus by the use of the first cooling water block 44, the second cooling water block 50, the thermoelectric element 46, and the heat transferring member 48.

Although the skin treating apparatus has the above-described advantages, it cannot sufficiently satisfy a patient who wants to obtain a rapid treatment effect.

Further, since the high-frequency current applied via the high- frequency electrodes 34 cannot be intensively applied to the spot of the skin to be treated but is applied to a large area around the spot to be treated, it is impossible to intensively treat a limited area.

[Disclosure]

[Technical Problem]

In order to solve the above-described problems of the skin treating apparatus applied for a patent by the present applicant, it is an object of the invention to provide a skin treating apparatus which can intensively treat a spot to be treated and can rapidly obtain a treatment effect.

[Technical Solution]

In order to accomplish the object of the invention, provided is a skin treating apparatus including a housing having a handle at a lower portion thereof and an empty space inside! upper, lower, left, and right high- frequency electrodes which are installed to be coupled to a front end portion of the housing in an inserted manner and to protrude from the outer surface of the front end portion of the housing and which generate high-frequency energy when current is applied thereto! a laser unit installed on a bracket provided inside the housing for emitting a laser beam when current is applied thereto! an optical guide which is arranged between the high-frequency electrodes and guides the laser beam generated from the laser unit! a plurality of infrared lamps installed to protrude from an outer surface of the housing at locations spaced apart from the high-frequency electrodes by a predetermined distance and arranged at regular intervals for emitting infrared rays when current is applied thereto! a first cooling water block installed to surround the surface of the laser unit for circulating cooling water which is externally supplied thereto, thereby removing heat generated from the laser unit during operation; a thermoelectric element installed to surround the surface of the high-frequency electrodes and the surface of the optical guide at the front portion of the inside of the housing for absorbing heat generated from the high-frequency electrodes and the optical guide when current flows, and dissipating the heat in the opposite direction; a heat transferring member installed in close contact with the outer surface of the thermoelectric element for transferring the heat from the thermoelectric element to the outside of the thermoelectric element; and a second cooling water block installed in close contact with the thermoelectric element and the heat transferring member at a location between the laser unit and the thermoelectric element for letting cooling water circulating therein perform heat exchange with the thermoelectric element and the heat transferring member .

It is preferable that front ends of the upper, lower, left, and right high-frequency electrodes have a semicircular shape so that current can intensively flow to the epidermis.

It is preferable that the upper and lower high-frequency electrodes have a section having a long rectangular shape which is relatively long in the left-to-right direction and that the left and right high-frequency electrodes have a section having a bar shape.

It is preferable that the left and right high-frequency electrodes be installed in an elastically movable manner inside and outside the housing by a spring provided therebetween.

Features, structures, and effects of the invention will be apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are perspective views illustrating a skin treating apparatus according to the invention.

Hereinafter, elements of the skin treating apparatus according to the invention that correspond with elements of the above-described skin treating apparatus are referenced with like numbers.

The skin treating apparatus 30 according to the invention includes a housing 32 having an empty space inside it and a handle 32a on the surface thereof.

An upper high-frequency electrode 34, a lower high-frequency electrode 34, a left high-frequency electrode 100, and a lower high-frequency electrode 100, which generate high-frequency energy as current is applied, are provided on the front portion of the inside of the housing 32 in a manner such that they protrude from the outer surface of the housing.

At this time, the upper and lower high-frequency electrodes 34 and the left and right high-frequency electrodes 100 have a semicircular shape so that current can intensively flow to the spot of the epidermis to be treated.

The upper and lower high-frequency electrodes 34 have a section having a long rectangular shape which is relatively long in the left-to-right direction. In contrast, the left and right high-frequency electrodes 100 have a section having a bar shape.

The left and right high-frequency electrodes 100 are combined with the housing via springs S, and thus they are elastically and reciprocally movable in inward and outward directions.

Inside the housing 32, a bracket 36 is installed, and a laser unit 38 which emits a laser beam when current is applied thereto, is installed on the bracket 36.

An optical guide 40, which is made of crystal and serves to guide a laser beam generated from the laser unit 38, is installed between the high- frequency electrodes 34 and 100. A plurality of infrared lamps 42 which generate infrared rays and flash when current is applied thereto is installed to protrude from the front end of the housing 32 at regular intervals. A first cooling water block 44 is installed around the laser unit 38. Cooling water is externally supplied to and circulated in the cooling water block 44. The first cooling water block 44 dissipates the heat of the laser unit 38 and cools down the laser unit 38 when it is driven.

Thermoelectric elements 46 are installed around the high-frequency electrodes 34 and 100 arranged at the front portion of the inside of the housing 32 and the optical guide 40 to absorb the heat from the high- frequency electrodes 34 and 100 and the optical guide 40 and dissipate the absorbed heat in the opposite direction. Heat transferring members 48 are installed in close contact with the surface of thermoelectric elements 46 to transfer the heat from the thermoelectric elements 46 to the outside.

A second cooling water block 50 performing heat exchange with the thermoelectric elements 46 and the heat transferring members 48 using cooling water is installed between the laser unit 38 and the thermoelectric elements 46. The second cooling water block 50 is installed in close contact with the thermoelectric elements 46 and the heat transferring members 48.

An electric wire, which electrically connects the high-frequency electrodes 34 and 100 to a system body 50, and a guide hose 54, which connects a cooling water circulation hose (not shown) to the first cooling water block 44 and the second cooling water block 50, are connected to the lower end of the handle 32a.

Alternatively, the skin treating apparatus may have a structure in which high-frequency current does not flow and a laser beam is not emitted from the laser unit when the high-frequency electrodes 34 and 100 are not in contact with the skin by checking whether the high-frequency electrodes 34 and 100 are in contact with the skin and letting weak current flow for several milliseconds when impedance matching between the high-frequency electrodes 34 and the skin is smoothly achieved.

The operation of the skin treating apparatus according to the invention is the same as the operation of the skin treating apparatus for which the present applicant has already applied for a patent. However, according to the invention, since the skin treating apparatus according to the invention includes two pairs of high-frequency electrodes 34 and 100 (upper, lower, left, and right high-frequency electrodes), it is possible to concentrate the high-frequency current generated when current flows through the electrodes.

[Advantageous Effects]

According to the invention, it is possible to rapidly and intensively treat the skin.

That is, it is possible to obtain a treatment effect in a short time.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes, modifications, or alterations to the invention as described herein may be made, none of which depart from the spirit of the present invention. All such changes, modifications and alterations should therefore be seen as falling within the scope of the present invention.

[Description of Drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating part of a known skin treating apparatus in an enlarged manner;

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the temperature change of the surface of the skin according to the treatment time in the known skin treating apparatus,"

FIG. 3 through FIG. 6 are views illustrating an example of a skin treating apparatus for which the present applicant has applied for a patent; and

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are perspective views illustrating the main part of a skin treating apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention.

34, 100: (Upper, lower, left, and right) high-frequency electrodes

38: Laser unit 40: Optical guide

42: Infrared lamp 44: First cooling water block

46: Thermoelectric element 48: Heat transferring member

50: Second cooling water block

[Industrial Applicability]

According to the skin treating apparatus of the invention, the heat generated from the laser unit is cooled by the first cooling water block, and the heat generated from the two pairs of high-frequency electrodes and the laser guide is rapidly cooled, and thus the laser unit, the high-frequency electrodes, and the laser guide are cooled to 5?C, which is the optimum temperature, in a short time by the actions of the thermoelectric element, the heat transferring member, and the second cooling water block. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to detach the two pairs of high-frequency electrodes from the skin to cool down the skin treating apparatus while treatment is performed, and the skin resistance is decreased as impedance matching between the high-frequency electrodes and the skin is smoothly obtained. As a result, the temperature of the skin surface is not increased. Therefore, it is possible to prevent damage from being caused to the epidermis during the treatment.

Moreover, since the high-frequency current generated from the two pairs of high-frequency electrodes arranged at upper, lower, left, and right sides of a front portion of the housing converges at the center portion of the housing, it is possible to rapidly obtain a skin treatment effect.

Besides the high-frequency electrode and the laser, the infrared beam is applied to the skin around the spot to be treated, and thus it activates the inside of the skin. As a result, the treatment effect is enhanced. In the case in which the high-frequency electrodes are not in contact with the skin during the treatment, the high-frequency current and the laser beam are not automatically applied to the spot of the skin to be treated. By this method, it is possible to greatly improve the safety of the skin treating apparatus during the treatment.

Claims

[CLAIMS] [Claim 1]

A skin treating apparatus comprising: a housing having a handle on a lower portion thereof and an empty space inside thereof; an upper, a lower, a left, and a right high-frequency electrode which are installed to be coupled to a front end portion of the housing in an insertion manner and to protrude from an outer surface of the front end portion of the housing, and which generate high-frequency energy when current is applied thereto; a laser unit installed on a bracket provided inside the housing for emitting a laser beam when current is applied thereto; an optical guide arranged between the high-frequency electrodes for guiding the laser beam generated from the laser unit; a plurality of infrared lamps installed to protrude from an outer surface of the housing at locations spaced from the high-frequency electrodes by a predetermined distance and arranged at regular intervals for emitting infrared rays when current is applied thereto; a first cooling water block installed to surround a surface of the laser unit for circulating cooling water which is externally supplied thereto and thus remove heat generated from the laser unit during operation; a thermoelectric element installed to surround a surface of the high- frequency electrodes and a surface of the optical guide at a front portion of the inside of the housing for absorbing heat generated from the high- frequency electrodes and the optical guide when current flows, and dissipating the heat in an opposite direction; a heat transferring member installed in close contact with an outer surface of the thermoelectric element for transferring the heat from the thermoelectric element to an outside of the thermoelectric element; and a second cooling water block installed in close contact with the thermoelectric element and the heat transferring member at a location between the laser unit and the thermoelectric element for letting cooling water circulate therein to perform heat exchange with the thermoelectric element and the heat transferring member. [Claim 2]

The skin treating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of front end portions of the upper, lower, left, and right high-frequency electrodes has a semicircular shape so that current flows intensively to an epidermis. [Claim 3]

The skin treating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the upper and lower high-frequency electrodes has a section having a long rectangular shape which is relatively long in a left-to-right direction, and each of the left and right high-frequency electrodes has a section having a bar shape. [Claim 4]

The skin treating apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the left and right high-frequency electrodes are elastically movable inside and outside the housing via springs.