WO2016049732A1

WO2016049732A1 - Apparatus and method for skin treatment

Info

Publication number: WO2016049732A1
Application number: PCT/CA2014/050953
Authority: WO
Inventors: Céline BONHOMME
Original assignee: Academie Beaute Perform'art Inc.
Priority date: 2014-10-03
Filing date: 2014-10-03
Publication date: 2016-04-07

Abstract

The present invention relates to a micro-needle therapy system for skin care, specifically, an apparatus and method for delivery of atomized liquid onto the skin are provided. The apparatus includes at least a control unit, an air pump and a liquid loading part, wherein the liquid loading part comprises an atomizer. The apparatus sprays the atomized liquid onto the skin while a micro-needle treating part is passing on the skin. This invention maximizes treating effect and reduce the cost of the treating substance.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SKIN TREATMENT

Technical Field

This invention relates to a micro-needle therapy system for skin care. More specifically, it relates to an apparatus and method for delivery of a therapeutic liquid onto the skin being treated with a micro-needle therapy system.

Background

In the field of skin care, it is known to stimulate the skin by passing an array of microneedles over the skin to create very small perforations in the outer layer of skin. This micro-needling action is known to reduce wrinkles, scarring and stretch marks. The needle array can be arranged on a roller or it can be a flat array guided to move over the skin surface while vibrating.

This therapy can be combined with the application of a skin lotion or other therapeutic substance, including collagen, to improve the therapeutic effect. However, normally the treating substance is applied as liquid and the application of the substance is not even, thus there is too little substance on some spots of the skin and too much substance on some other spots. It wastes the treating substance and affects the treatment of the skin.

Summary

It has been discovered by the present applicant that atomizing the treating substance, for example collagen, has a number of advantages. Firstly, blowing a mist of treating substance onto the skin or onto the micro-needles treating the skin can provide uniform application to the skin. Secondly, atomization can be performed close to the liquid reservoir (for example, a bottle) such that little loss of liquid occurs when the reservoir is empty or when application stops, due to the amount of liquid trapped within the fluid delivery conduits. Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will be better understood by way of the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a right side view of a skin treating apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a left side view of said skin treating apparatus in Figure 1.

Figure 3A shows a side view of a liquid loading part of said skin treating apparatus.

Figure 3B shows a perspective view of said liquid loading part.

Figure 4A shows a side view of a treating part of said skin treating apparatus. Figure 4B shows a perspective view of said treating part.

Figure 5 shows a side view of a main part of said skin treating apparatus, which shows details of a purge valve.

Figure 6 shows a diagram for liquid flow and electrical control of said skin treating apparatus.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 shows an apparatus 10 for skin treating according to the invention, such as applying collagen onto the skin, which includes a main housing 100, a liquid loading part 200 and a treating part 300. The main housing 100 can include a control unit 110, a display screen 120, a control inputs 130 and an air pump 140 (inside the housing 100).

The liquid loading part 200 is connected to an inlet 141 of the air pump 140.

Figure 2 shows another view of the apparatus 10. An outlet 142 of the air pump 140 is connected to a mist applying part 310 located on the skin treating tool 300 through a collagen mist outlet hose 320. On the main housing 100 there are two brackets on the left and right side for holding the liquid loading part 200 and the treating tool 300.

Figure 3A and 3B show the details of the liquid loading part 200 which includes two parts: a distal part 210 and a proximal part 220. A bottle 230 of collagen, a known skin therapeutic substance, is placed in the distal part 210. This bottle has a lid with a membrane through which an injection needle can penetrate, as is well known for injectable pharmaceuticals. The proximal part 220 holds and guides two needles (221 , 222) to penetrate into the bottle 230. The needle 221 is for drawing the liquid from the bottle and is long enough to extend into the bottom of the bottle and the needle 222 is for letting air into the bottle to release low air pressure inside the bottle while the liquid is being drawn out. Needle 222 is short enough that it does not extend into the liquid of a full bottle.

The far part is slightly inclined relative to the near part and the needle 221 is extended to the lowest bottom side inside the bottle 230, thus the needle 221 can draw all the liquid from the bottle. The liquid level of the collagen in the bottle is visible through a cutout or window within the distal part 210.

The distal part 210 attaches to the proximal part 220 using a releasable coupling. The needles 221 , 222 are adjustable in position within the proximal part 220 using a guide structure 250 guiding the atomizer 240 to be retracted for releasing or inserting a bottle, and for inserting the needles into the bottle for use. In the proximal part 220, the atomizer part 240 supports the needles 221 and 222. This atomizer 240 functions to atomize the treating liquid to become a mist. In this embodiment, an air pump 140 draws air in the hose 143 that provides the airflow for the Venturi atomizer to draw liquid up needle 221 and create the atomization in atomizer 240. While the atomizer 240 can be a Venturi tube to atomize the treating substance, it will be appreciated that a liquid pump located close to the needle 221 could draw liquid from the container and create a pressure in the liquid for a spray nozzle that could create the atomized liquid. Then a separate air pump could transport the mist through the hose 143 to the applicator tool Further alternatively, the air pump can blow air to push a mist in the hose 143, which mist is generated by a spray nozzle. Additionally, a source of air pressure can be used to generate the mist and air flow in the hose 143 to transport the mist to the application site. While reference is made to a treatment liquid, it will be appreciated that gels and pastes that can be atomized, possibly with the help of the addition of heat, can also be used.

While a bottle of treatment agent is used in the above embodiment, it will be

appreciated that any suitable reservoir of treatment agent can be employed. While it is preferred to be able to monitor consumption of the agent visually by the reduction of volume in a small container, it will be appreciated that monitoring can be achieved by using flow meters or positive displacement pumps.

By transporting atomized liquid in the tube or hose 143 from the container 230 to the applicator tool 300, little of the therapeutic liquid is stored (or lost after treatment) in the tube or hose 143. It has been found that collagen mist is efficiently transported in a small hose and does not condense significantly during transport. The application of a mist to the skin is even and efficient. When application is stopped, the amount of collagen or other therapeutic agent in the hose is insignificant, and the remaining amount in the container is a reliable indication of how much agent has been applied to the skin. Figure 4A and 4B show the details of the skin treating part 300 which includes a handle 320 and a multiple micro-needle head 330. The mist applying part 310 can spray mist from hose 143 onto an area on which the head 330 is passing. In this embodiment, the head 330 is a roller of micro-needles whose bearings are connected to a drive motor 340 housed within the handle 320. The head 330 can create micro-holes in the skin surface, so as to improve the ability of the skin to absorb the treating substance being applied. A vibration can be applied to the head 330 by the motor 340. An electric cable 341 is connected to the motor for control of the roller head 330. The motor can be controlled as On/Off, as well as amplitude and/or frequency tuneable. For independent control of amplitude and frequency, mechanical adjustment of the drive mechanism or the guide member 331 surrounding the roller head 330 can be provided, with either a manual adjustment or a motor adjustment. The cable 341 can be connected to the control unit 110 or be controlled by an individual switch, such as a foot pedal.

Figure 5 shows a side view of the main housing 100, which shows details of an optional purge valve 400. The purge valve 400 is set between the inlet 141 and the air pump 140. When the purge valve 400 is On', it connects the air pump 140 to the inlet 141 , i.e. supplying atomized treating liquid into the air pump 140; when the purge valve 400 is set Off', it disconnects the air pump 140 from the inlet 141 , i.e. inputting air into the air pump 140 to clean the downstream hose and device. In this embodiment, the purge valve 400 can be an electric switch valve or a 3-way valve.

Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram for liquid flow and electrical control of the skin treating apparatus 10. In Figure 6, the dashed lines represent the flow of the treating substance and the solid lines represent the electrical control.

By referring to Figure 6, the method using the apparatus to treat skin is disclosed as follow.

The method comprises steps:

Preparation

1.1. Load the bottle 230 of collagen into the liquid loading part 200;

1.2. Connect the hoses and the cables;

1.3. Punch the needles 221 , 222 into the bottle 230;

2 Power On

2.1. Use control panel 130 to set the collagen flow rate (determined here by the air pump speed);

2.2. Set vibrating parameters of the motor 340;

2.3. Set the purge valve 400 On';

3 Starting treatment 3.1. Turn the vibration motor 340 On';

3.2. Turn the air pump 140 'On', draw the treating liquid from the bottle 230 and atomizer the liquid;

3.3. Pass the roller 330 of micro-needles guided on the skin using guide 331 while spraying the atomized liquid on the skin;

4 Ending treatment

4.1. Turn the vibration motor 340 Off';

4.2. Set the purge valve 400 Off; (pumping air into collagen mist outlet pipe, to clean)

4.3. Turn the air pump 140 Off;

4.4. Move the roller 300 of micro-needles on skin away from skin;

5. Power Off

Replace or sterilize the roller 300 of micro-needles.

While the embodiment described above has a base unit that can be table or counter mounted, it will be appreciated that it can be wall mounted as well. In other embodiments, the liquid container, the atomizer and controls can be integrated into the handpiece.

The present invention has been described with regard to selected preferred embodiments. The description and the drawings were intended to help the understanding of the invention, rather than to limit the understanding of possible variations. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the invention as described herein, and such modifications are intended to be covered by the present description.

Claims

1 . An apparatus for delivery of a therapeutic liquid to skin to be treated by microneedles, the apparatus comprising: a multiple micro-needle treatment head; an atomizer configured to be in fluid communication with a liquid reservoir for atomizing treatment liquid ; an air pump for transporting said atomized liquid in a conduit to a location at or near the treatment head.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a control unit to control said air pump.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said atomizer draws said liquid from a container by Venturi effect driven by air flow through said air pump.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , 2 or 3, further comprising a liquid loading part including a distal part to secure a container of said liquid and a proximal part to hold and guide a needle to penetrate into said container..

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said distal part has a support for holding said container inclined, and said needle is arranged to draw liquid from a bottom corner of said container so as to draw all the liquid from said container.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least two needles are arranged to be penetrated into the container of said liquid, wherein one needle is for drawing said liquid and another needle is for introducing air into said container.

7. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein said distal part comprises an aperture or window for showing a liquid level in said container.

8. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said conduit comprises a flexible tube or hose extending from a base unit to the treatment head.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein a fluid coupling between the atomizer and the liquid reservoir located in the base unit has a small volume so that little liquid will in use be held in the fluid coupling prior to transport in the form of mist to the treatment head through the tube or hose.

10. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said treatment head comprises a roller of micro-needles connected to a motor for vibrating said microneedles.

11. A method for delivery of a therapeutic liquid to skin to be treated by micro-needles comprising: providing a container of treating liquid; atomizing said treating liquid near said container; and transporting said atomized liquid as a mist to a hand-held applicator for application onto skin.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising setting a flow rate of said liquid.

13. A method as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein said transporting comprises providing a flow of air in a hose extending from a base unit to the hand-held applicator to carry said mist.