NON-SURGICAL SYSTEM FOR THE RETRACTION OF A PATIENT'S EYELID TISSUE, THAT CAN BE COUPLED TO ANY LASER GENERATOR

Abstract

The invention relates to a non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient meant to tighten the tissue without making an ablation, that is designed to be coupled to any laser generator equipment present in the market and wherein the laser generator supplies a laser beam in continuous mode to a handpiece.

The invention also relates to said handpiece.

The system is characterised by comprising a handpiece that can be coupled to a laser generator operating in a power range of 0.1 to 10 W and with treatment times of 0.1 to 5 s, and having one or more lenses that focus or collimate the laser beam to a small spot with a diameter of 0.5 to 5 mm. The system also comprises a timed pedal assembly with an electronic control unit associated with a timed pedal meant to compensate the delay time (t.sub.r) of the mechanical shutter and add it to the programmed emission time on the skin (t.sub.p), thereby compensating said delay time (t.sub.r) and allowing to obtain compensated laser beam pulses (t.sub.c), as well as incorporating a timed module to allow obtaining the required laser beam pulse times of 0.1 to 5 s.

Claims

1.-6. (canceled)

7. A non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient, characterised in that the non-surgical system comprises: a hollow handpiece provided with an outer body having a distal part and a proximal part, wherein the distal part comprises an opening that can be coupled to a laser generator operating in a low power range between 0.1 and 10 W and with high pulse times between 0.1 and 5 seconds, wherein the proximal part comprises an opening for the exit of the laser beam, focused or collimated, toward the skin of the patient's eyelid, and where the handpiece also comprises at least the following elements: one or more lenses arranged fixedly at respective distances (d.sub.i) from the proximal end inside the outer body of the handpiece and in a position perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the outer body, which are configured to focus or collimate the laser beam to a small circle with a diameter between 0.5 and 5 mm that is applied to the tissue of the eyelid with sufficient power density to heat the intra- and extra-cellular water of the eyelid without reaching the boiling point; a timed pedal assembly, comprising: a timed pedal that replaces the original pedal of a laser generator, an electronic control unit associated with the timed pedal and configured to compensate for the delay time (t.sub.r) characteristic of the mechanical shutter of the laser generator, and add it to the programmed emission time on the skin (t.sub.p) to compensate for this delay time (t.sub.r) and allow obtaining compensated laser beam pulses (t.sub.c) that exit the electronic control unit, and a timer module that is connected to the electronic control unit and to the general laser equipment, wherein the timer module is configured to obtain laser beam pulse times between 0.1 and 5 seconds; and a laser generator provided with a mechanical shutter, wherein the laser generator supplies a laser beam in continuous mode that crosses the handpiece.

8. The non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient, according to claim 7, wherein the handpiece comprises, in the proximal part thereof, a spacer or mechanical reference which, when resting on the skin, allows maintaining a fixed working distance and consequently a constant spot surface area, thereby ensuring that the size of the spot remains constant throughout the treatment.

9. The non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient, according to claim 7, wherein the interior of the handpiece comprises two or more lenses separated from each other to collimate the beam, wherein the two or more lenses are arranged fixed at respective different specific distances (d.sub.i) with respect to the proximal end inside the outer body of the handpiece and in a position perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the outer body.

10. The non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient, according to claim 8, wherein the interior of the handpiece comprises two or more lenses separated from each other to collimate the beam, wherein the two or more lenses are arranged fixed at respective different specific distances (d.sub.i) with respect to the proximal end inside the outer body of the handpiece and in a position perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the outer body.

11. The non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient, according to claim 7, wherein the laser generator is configured so as to work with a laser with a wavelength between 400 and 12,000 nm.

12. The non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient, according to claim 11, wherein the preferred wavelength range is 1,400 to 11,000 nm.

13. Handpiece suitable for the non-surgical system for the retraction of the eyelid tissue of a patient defined in claim 7, characterised in that the handpiece comprises, at least, the following elements: an outer body having a distal part and a proximal part, wherein the distal part comprises an opening that can be coupled to a laser generator operating in continuous mode in a low power range from 0.1 to 10 W and with high treatment times from 0.1 to 5 seconds, and wherein the proximal part comprises an opening for outlet of the focused or collimated laser beam towards the skin of the eyelid of the patient; and one or more focusing lenses arranged at fixed respective distances (d.sub.i) from the proximal end inside the outer body of the handpiece and in a position perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the outer body, which is/are configured to focus or collimate the laser beam to a small spot with a diameter from 0.5 to 5 mm to be applied to the tissue of the eyelid with sufficient power density to heat the intra- and extra-cellular water in the eyelid tissue without making it boil.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] In order to better understand the description made, a set of drawings has been provided which, schematically and solely by way of non-limiting example, represent practical cases of various embodiments.

[0048] FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the first embodiment of the handpiece (1) of the invention having a single lens (3) showing the various component parts thereof.

[0049] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the second embodiment of the handpiece (1) of the invention having two lenses (3, 4) showing the various component parts thereof.

[0050] FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of a possible embodiment of the exterior of the handpiece (1) object of the invention.

[0051] FIG. 4 is the same exterior view of the handpiece (1) as FIG. 3, in this case shown in a perspective view.

[0052] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the timed pedal assembly (11, 12, 13) connected to the general laser equipment (14).

[0053] FIG. 6 is a representation of a possible timeline for the operation of the system of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0054] Two different embodiments are described below for the handpiece (1) of the present invention, with specific reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

[0055] As can be seen in FIGS. 1 to 4, this invention relates to a system that incorporates a handpiece (1) which presents an outer body that is hollow on the inside (2, 2a, 2b, 2c) having a distal part (2c) and a proximal part (2a). This handpiece (1) can have a length, by way of example, between 4 and 20 cm. The distal part (2c) presents attachment means (such as threading, see FIGS. 3 and 4) for coupling the opening (7) to the connector of a conventional laser generator (11, 12, 13, 14) which for this technique operates in a low power range from 0.1 to 10 W with high pulse times between 0.1 and 5 seconds. The proximal part (2a) presents a narrowing that ends at a proximal opening (8) through which the focused or collimated laser beam exits, as applicable, in the case of one or more lenses respectively. The handpiece (1) also incorporates an optional air inlet (5) meant to cool the inner part of the outer body (2).

[0056] In the first embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the handpiece (1) incorporates inside the outer body (2) a single plano-convex focusing lens (3) fixed in a position perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the outer body (2) at a specified focal length (f.sub.1). In this first case the focal length (f.sub.1) of the lens (3) is preferably from 10 mm to 200 mm. In this case the proximal end incorporates a spacer (6) that can be integrated with the proximal part (2a) or be a separating element. The spacer (6) is an elongate piece with a suitable specific length which rests on the skin (15) of the patient and ensures that the working distance is always constant from the skin (15) of the patient, to ensure that the spot size remains constant throughout the treatment. As indicated above, the spacer (6) can be integrated in the outer body (2) or can be removable to allow cleaning. Before the laser beam (9a) reaches the focusing lens (3) presents a greater diameter on the skin (15) of the eyelid of the patient, and after crossing the convergent focusing lens (3) the outgoing laser beam (9b) is focused (reduced) to the desired size (0.5 to 5 mm) on the skin (15) of the patient's eyelid.

[0057] In the second embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2, the handpiece (1) incorporates inside the outer body (2) two focusing lenses (3, 4) arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the outer body (2) and at specific respective distances (d2, d3) to the proximal opening (8), different from each other with respect to the proximal end (8). In this second case the beam exits the second focusing lens in collimated form, so that there is no focal length as the spot remains unchanged from a separation of 1 cm to about 50 cm.

[0058] The second lens (4), which is the one closest to the proximal area, collimates the inbound laser beam (9b) (that is, shrinks the laser beam to the desired size of 0.5 to 5 mm and keeps it parallel in its outbound path (9c)). Therefore, if there are more than two lenses (3, 4) the spacer is not necessary and is instead optional. In FIG. 2 no spacer is shown.

[0059] In both cases discussed above (FIGS. 1 and 2) the lens(es) (3, 4) are configured and arranged inside the outer body (2) of the handpiece (1) set at the necessary distances with respect to the proximal end to focus or collimate (according to the case of FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) the laser beam into a small spot with a diameter between 0.5 and 5 mm, on the eyelid tissue (15).

[0060] FIG. 5 shows schematically the timed pedal assembly (11, 12, 13) of the invention, which is connected to the general laser equipment (14).

[0061] FIG. 6 shows a possible timeline of the action of the system of the invention, a possible example of the pedal control unit based on a device that adjusts the delay time (t.sub.r) of the mechanical shutter of the laser generator in question (performed only the first time), and the control of the emission time adjustable by the surgeon. The controls can be analogue or digital.

[0062] Although reference has been made to a specific embodiment of the invention, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the system that can be coupled to any laser generator, equipment and handpiece described is susceptible to numerous variations and modifications, and that all the details mentioned can be replaced by other technically equivalent ones, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the attached claims.