US6350276B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Tissue remodeling apparatus containing cooling fluid
Assignee: Solta Medical Inc
•
Filing: 1999-06-30
•
Granted: 2002-02-26
•
Expires: 2019-06-30
Abstract
Abstract A fluid delivery apparatus for introducing a fluid cooling media to a skin surface includes a template with a skin interface surface. An energy delivery device is coupled to the template. A fluid cooling media introduction member is coupled to the template. Resources controllably deliver energy from the energy delivery device to the skin surface. In a related embodiment, the resources are configured to controllably deliver the flowable cooling media to the introduction member. In another embodiment, a sensor is coupled to the resources and to the skin surface.
Inventors
- 👤 Edward W. Knowlton
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-22 22:59
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B18/00; A61B18/04; A61B18/12; A45; A45D; A45D44/00; A45D44/22; A61B18/02; A61B18/1206; A61B18/14; A61B90/00; A61B90/02; A61N; A61N1/00; A61N1/02; A61N1/04; A61N1/06; A61N1/18; A61N1/20; A61N1/28; A61N1/30; A61N1/40; A61N1/403; A61N5/00; A61N5/02; A61N5/04; A61N5/06; A61N5/0613; A61N5/0616; A61B17/00; A61B17/00234; A61B2017/00292; A61B2017/003; A61B2018/00005; A61B2018/00011; A61B2018/00315; A61B2018/00452; A61B2018/00482; A61B2018/00488; A61B2018/00636; A61B2018/0066; A61B2018/0212; A61B90/06; A61B2090/064; A61F; A61F7/00; A61F2007/0001; A61F2007/0018; A61F2007/0021; A61H; A61H2201/00; A61H2201/10; A61H2207/00; A61H7/00; A61H7/001; A61H9/00; A61H9/005; A61H9/0071; A61M; A61M2205/00; A61M2205/36; A61M2205/3606; A61N2005/0635; A61N2005/0643; A61N2005/0645
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 44
Claim 1
Independent Claim
86 words
An apparatus for cooling a skin surface during remodeling of a soft tissue structure underneath the skin surface, comprising: a template comprising a layer that is made of semiconductive material and has a curved skin interface surface that substantially conforms to the general three-dimensional contour of the soft tissue structure; an energy delivery device coupled to the template; a flowable cooling media introduction member coupled to the template; and an energy resource configured to controllably deliver energy from the energy delivery device to the skin surface.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
86 words
An apparatus for cooling a skin surface during remodeling of a soft tissue structure underneath the skin surface, comprising: a template comprising a layer that is made of semiconductive material and has a curved skin interface surface that substantially conforms to the general three-dimensional contour of the soft tissue structure; an energy delivery device coupled to the template; a flowable cooling media introduction member coupled to the template; and an energy resource configured to controllably deliver energy from the energy delivery device to the skin surface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a fluid resource configured to controllably deliver the flowable cooling media to the introduction member.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising: a sensor coupled to the fluid resource and adapted to be coupled to the skin surface.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a sensor coupled to the energy resource and adapted to be coupled to the skin surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the sensor is a thermal sensor.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy resource provides a pulsed delivery of energy from the energy delivery device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the energy resource includes a feedback control.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy resource provides a controlled delivery of energy to the skin surface that does not exceed 1000 joules/cm2 during a single delivery of energy.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy resource provides a controlled dose rate of energy to the skin surface of no more than 10 joules/sec/cm2.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
53 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy resource provides a controlled delivery of electromagnetic energy to a skin surface to operate in an impedance range at the skin surface of 70 ohms cm2 measured at a frequency of 88 Hz to 40 Kohms cm2 measured at a frequency of 10 KHz.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy delivery device produces electromagnetic energy and the energy resource adjusts a frequency of the electromagnetic energy to correspond to a selected temperature at the skin surface.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the energy resource provides a controlled delivery of electromagnetic energy to operate in a range of thermal conductivity at a skin surface of 0.2 to 1.2 W/(m° C.).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy delivery device is an RF electrode and the energy resource provides a controlled delivery of energy to operate with a frequency modulation of 250 KHz to 4 MHz.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy delivery device is a dielectric heating delivery device and the energy resource provides a controlled delivery of energy in the range of 4 MHz to 60 MHz.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy delivery device is a microwave antenna and the energy resource provides a controlled delivery of energy in the range of 915 MHz to 2,450 MHz.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
59 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy resource includes: an energy control signal generator that generates an energy control signal to control energy supplied from an energy source to the energy delivery device; a temperature measurement circuitry coupled to the energy delivery device and configured to measure a temperature of a selected site at the skin surface.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising: an energy source configured to supply energy to the energy delivery device, wherein the energy source is responsive to the control signal to supply energy to the energy delivery device.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
75 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the temperature measuring circuitry comprises: a first device for determining the minimum temperature value; a target determining device coupled to the first device configured to determine the target temperature value as a function of the minimum temperature value; and a first comparison device for comparing measured temperature values to the target temperature value and generating a signal indicating whether the measured temperature value exceeds the target temperature value.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
14 words
Apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the temperature measurement circuitry includes a microprocessor controller.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy resource includes: an energy control signal generator that generates an energy control signal to control energy supplied from an energy source to the energy delivery device.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
45 words
The apparatus of claim 20 , further comprising: an energy source coupled to the energy delivery device and configured to supply energy to the energy delivery device, wherein the energy source is responsive to the control signal to supply energy to the energy delivery device.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy delivery device provides resistive heating.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the energy delivery device comprises one or more resistive heating coils.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
41 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy resource includes impedance measuring circuitry coupled to the energy delivery device and configured to measure an impedance of one of a selected site at the skin surface or the energy delivery device.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
56 words
The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the impedance measuring circuitry determines a minimum impedance value to determine a target measurement value as a function of the minimum measurement value and compares the measured measurement values to the target measurement value and alter the control signal when said measured measurement value exceeds the target measurement value.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
75 words
The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the impedance measuring circuitry comprises: a first device for determining the minimum impedance value; a target determining device coupled to the first device configured to determine the target impedance value as a function of the minimum impedance value; and a first comparison device for comparing measured impedance values to the target impedance value and generating a signal indicating whether the measured impedance value exceeds the target impedance value.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the impedance measurement circuitry includes a microprocessor controller.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the introduction member coupled to the template is configured to retain the flowable cooling media within the introduction member during the remodeling of the soft tissue structure.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the introduction member coupled to the template is configured to introduce the flowable cooling media to the skin surface during the remodeling of the soft tissue structure.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conductivity of the semiconductive material ranges from 10 −4 to 10 3 (ohm-cm) −1 .
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conductivity of the semiconductive material ranges from 10 −4 to 1 (ohm-cm) −1 .
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductive material is a semiconductive polymer.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus of claim 32 , wherein the semiconductive polymer is metallophthalocyanine.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductive material is a conformable polymer coated with germanium.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the conformable polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyurethanes, silicones and polytetrafluoroethylene.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
143 words
An apparatus for remodeling of a soft tissue structure underneath the skin surface, comprising: a template comprising a layer that is made of semiconductor material and having a curved skin interface surface that substantially conforms to the general three-dimensional contour of the soft tissue structure; an energy delivery device coupled to the template; a flowable cooling media introduction member coupled to the template; and an energy resource configured to controllably deliver energy from the energy delivery device to the skin surface, wherein the energy resource includes a flow rate signal generator that generates a flow rate control signal to control cooling media supplied from a cooling media source to the flowable cooling media introduction member; and flow rate measurement circuitry coupled to the flowable cooling media introduction member and configured to measure a flow rate of the cooling media at the skin surface.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
143 words
An apparatus for remodeling of a soft tissue structure underneath the skin surface, comprising: a template comprising a layer that is made of semiconductor material and having a curved skin interface surface that substantially conforms to the general three-dimensional contour of the soft tissue structure; an energy delivery device coupled to the template; a flowable cooling media introduction member coupled to the template; and an energy resource configured to controllably deliver energy from the energy delivery device to the skin surface, wherein the energy resource includes a flow rate signal generator that generates a flow rate control signal to control cooling media supplied from a cooling media source to the flowable cooling media introduction member; and flow rate measurement circuitry coupled to the flowable cooling media introduction member and configured to measure a flow rate of the cooling media at the skin surface.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
43 words
The apparatus of claim 36 , further comprising: a cooling media source coupled to the flowable cooling media introduction member, wherein the cooling media source is responsive to the flow rate control signal to supply cooling media to the cooling media introduction member.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
83 words
The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the flow rate measuring circuitry comprises: a first device for determining the minimum flow rate value; a target determining device coupled to the first device configured to determine the target flow rate value as a function of the minimum flow rate value; and a first comparison device for comparing measured flow rate values to the target flow rate value and generating a signal indicating whether the measured flow rate value exceeds the target flow rate value.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the flow rate measurement circuitry includes a microprocessor controller.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
89 words
An apparatus for remodeling of a soft tissue structure underneath the skin surface, comprising: a template comprising a skin-contacting layer that is made of semiconductive material and has a curved skin interface surface that substantially conforms to the general three-dimensional contour of the soft tissue structure, and a non-skin-contacting layer that is rigid and adopts a desired shape of the soft tissue structure; an energy delivery device coupled to the template; and an energy resource configured to controllably deliver energy from the energy delivery device to the skin surface.
Claim 43
Independent Claim
89 words
An apparatus for remodeling of a soft tissue structure underneath the skin surface, comprising: a template comprising a skin-contacting layer that is made of semiconductive material and has a curved skin interface surface that substantially conforms to the general three-dimensional contour of the soft tissue structure, and a non-skin-contacting layer that is rigid and adopts a desired shape of the soft tissue structure; an energy delivery device coupled to the template; and an energy resource configured to controllably deliver energy from the energy delivery device to the skin surface.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 40 , further comprising: a flowable cooling media introduction member coupled to the template.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2005-02-25 | 2005-08-27 | 2006-02-26 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-02-25 | 2009-08-27 | 2010-02-26 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-02-25 | 2013-08-27 | 2014-02-26 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |