Disclosed is an applicator or handpiece configured to apply treatment energy to a segment of skin located in a tissue or skin treatment plane. The treatment energy could be RF energy, applied by a pair of bipolar RF electrodes or optical energy. The applicator includes an optical system configured to form a rectangular spot and homogenize the optical energy distribution.

The invention relates to a device (1) for hair-growth control of hairs (3), in particular hairs growing from human skin (5). The device (1) has a laser source (7) for generating a laser beam (9) during a pulse time, an optical system (15) for focusing the laser beam into a focal spot (25), and a laser beam manipulator (17) for positioning the focal spot in a target position. According to the invention, a dimension of the focal spot (25) and a power of the generated laser beam (9) are such that, in the focal spot (25), the laser beam has a power density which is above a characteristic threshold value for hair-growth related skin tissue above which, for the pulse time, a laser induced optical breakdown (LIOB) phenomenon occurs in the hair-growth related skin tissue. The LIOB phenomenon results in a number of mechanical effects, such as cavitation and the generation of shock waves, which damage the hair-growth related skin tissue in positions surrounding the LIOB phenomenon. An advantage of the device (1) according to the invention is that the amount of total energy which is necessary to cause trauma and induce (semi-)permanent cessation of hair-growth is at such a level that irritation and damage of the surrounding skin tissue is very limited or even completely prevented.

A device for providing a dermatological treatment, the device includes a device body, a radiation delivery system for delivering radiation to the skin to provide a dermatological treatment, and a situation-specific control system. The control system includes a plurality of sensors and control electronics programmed to receive signals from the plurality of sensors; determine whether to initiate radiation delivery by the radiation delivery system based on a comparison of the signals received from the plurality of sensors to a first condition; and once radiation is initiated, determine whether to continue radiation delivery by the radiation delivery system based on a comparison of the signals received from the plurality of sensors to a second condition that is different than the first condition.

A method for removing hair by thermolysis is provided. The method steps include oscillating a direct current to create an alternating current (“AC”) micro-pulse, pulsing the AC micro-pulse on and off continuously, delivering the AC micro-pulse to a probe, applying the probe to a hair follicle, and inverting the direction of the AC micro-pulse on the hair follicle. When the probe is applied to the hair follicle, the AC micro-pulse travels from the top of the dermis of the hair follicle to a dermal papilla of the hair follicle. The AC micro-pulse reverses direction at the dermal papilla and travels to the top of the dermis of the hair follicle. The AC micro-pulse produces heat that destroys the tissues controlling the growth of the hair follicle.

Dermatological systems and methods for providing a therapeutic laser treatment using a handpiece delivering one or more therapeutic laser pulses to a target skin area along a first optical path, and sensing the temperature of the target skin area based on infrared energy radiating from the target skin area along a second optical path generally counterdirectional to the first office action, and sharing a common optical axis with the first optical path for at least a portion of the first and second optical paths. The handpiece may also provide contact cooling for a first skin area comprising the target skin area.

In combined methods for treating a patient using time-varying magnetic field, treatment methods combine various approaches for aesthetic treatment. A magnetic field generating device is placed proximate to a body region of the patient. The magnetic field generating device generates a time-varying magnetic field with a magnetic flux density in a range of 0.5 to 7 Tesla. The time-varying magnetic field is applied to the body region of the patient in order to cause a contraction of a muscle within the body region. A second therapy may be used by applying one or more of optical waves, radio frequency waves, mechanical waves, negative or positive pressure or heat to the body region of the patient.

A device configured to cut hair using laser light includes a handle portion and a shaving portion. The handle portion includes a battery and a laser light source. The laser light source is coupled to and configured to receive power from the battery. The laser light source is also configured to generate laser light having a wavelength selected to target a predetermined chromophore to effectively cut a hair shaft. The shaving portion includes a support and a single fiber optic supported by the support. The fiber optic has a proximal end, a distal end, an outer wall, and a cutting region positioned towards the distal end and extending along a portion of the side wall. The fiber optic is positioned to receive the laser light from the laser light source at the proximal end, conduct the laser light from the proximal end toward the distal end, and emit the light out of the cutting region and toward hair when the cutting region is brought in contact with the hair.

According to an aspect, there is provided a method of determining a position and/or orientation of a hand-held device with respect to a subject. The hand-held device is for use on a body of the subject. The method comprises receiving (101) images from an imaging unit arranged in or on the hand-held device; receiving (103) a displacement signal from a displacement sensor that is arranged in or on the hand-held device to measure displacement of the hand-held device along the body when the hand-held device is in contact with the body; processing (105) the received images to determine whether a body part of the subject can be identified in the received images; determining (107) whether the hand-held device is in contact with the body; determining (109) a mode of operation to use to determine a position and/or orientation of the hand-held device based on whether a body part can be identified and whether the hand-held device is in contact with the body; wherein the mode of operation to use is determined as (i) a first mode when a body part can be identified, (ii) a second mode when a body part cannot be identified and the hand-held device is not in contact with the body, and (iii) a third mode when the hand-held device is in contact with the body; and determining (111) the position and/or orientation of the hand-held device with respect to the body of the subject using the received images and/or received displacement signal according to the determined mode of operation.

A method of operating a flashlamp (2) in a skin treatment system (1) comprises the steps of establishing a conductive path between the flashlamp (2) and a charged capacitor (4) causing a free discharge within the flashlamp, and interrupting said conductive path so as to cut off the current through the lamp when the current density drops below a predetermined current density threshold level (Ix) or when the energy applied to the skin reaches a certain maximum (E.sub.M).

A method of dermocosmetic treatment for skin tissue includes a plurality of treatment laser light sources which are in communication with a rectangular-shaped optical fiber; the optical fiber includes a proximal end to receive laser light from the plurality of treatment laser light sources and a distal end to transmit overlapping laser light to the area of skin tissue to be treated; the plurality of treatment of laser light sources are activated to impinge one or more rectangular-shaped laser light images within one or more rectangular-shaped areas.