Devices and methods for cosmetic skin resurfacing

Abstract

Disclosed herein are apparatuses, kits, and methods for treating skin, such as skin tightening, e.g., reducing skin laxity, for treating conditions that would benefit from tissue area or volume reduction, skin restoration, skin tightening, skin lifting, and / or skin repositioning, and / or for generally improving skin function or appearance. Such apparatuses, kits, and methods include one or more hollow needles each having at least one prong and a mechanism for removing skin tissue portion(s) from the hollow needle(s).

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 16 / 090,034 filed Sep. 28, 2018, which is a national stage application of PCT Application No. PCT / US2017 / 024752, filed on Mar. 29, 2017, and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 314,748, filed on Mar. 29, 2016, all of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference thereto.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]In aesthetic medicine, elimination of excess tissue and / or skin laxity is an important concern that affects more than 25% of the U.S. population. Conventional surgical therapies (e.g., a face lift, brow lift, or breast lift) can be effective but are invasive, inconvenient, and expensive, while scarring limits the applicability of surgery to certain treatment sites.[0003]Although minimally invasive methods are available, such methods are generally less effective than surgical methods. For example, methods using energy sources (e.g., laser,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is designed to have a high coring rate, meaning the percentage of times the needle is used to remove tissue from the treatment area compared to the number of times it is used. This is achieved by maximizing the force needed to remove tissue and minimizing the force needed to keep the needle in place. The force needed to remove tissue is determined by the connection between the tissue and its surrounding tissue. By applying a pressure difference across the needle (such as a vacuum), the force needed to remove tissue is increased, resulting in a higher coring rate.

Problems solved by technology

Conventional surgical therapies (e.g., a face lift, brow lift, or breast lift) can be effective but are invasive, inconvenient, and expensive, while scarring limits the applicability of surgery to certain treatment sites.

Although minimally invasive methods are available, such methods are generally less effective than surgical methods.

For example, methods using energy sources (e.g., laser, non-coherent light, radiofrequency, and ultrasound) can be effective at improving the architecture and texture of the skin but are less effective at tightening the skin or reducing skin laxity.

In addition, tissue ablative methods that create micro-ablations with photo-thermal energy can generate a coagulation zone in tissue that interferes with closure of the ablation zones, thereby inhibiting tissue tightening.

These methods also require longer patient healing times due to the biological reparative response to coagulated and dead tissue during the remodeling process.

Also, laser ablation depth is typically limited by the depth of the laser beam focus.

Finally, dermal fillers, such as hyaluronic acid, can be injected in the dermal layer to smooth out wrinkles and improve contours, but such fillers do not directly tighten or reduce laxity of the skin.

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