Cooling devices with flexible sensors
AssigneeJuniper Medical, Inc.
InventorsMitchell Levinson, Jesse N. Rosen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for exchanging heat with a subject having skin is provided. The device includes a heat exchanging member having a heat transfer surface configured to form a heat conducting interface with the subject's skin. The device further includes a substantially flexible sensing device disposed in the interface between the heat exchanging member and the subject's skin. The sensing device is configured to measure a parameter of the interface without substantially impeding heat transfer between the heat exchanging member and the subject's skin.
Claims30
A device for removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject having skin, comprising:
- a heat exchanging member having a heat transfer surface configured to form a heat conducting interface with the subject's skin to remove heat from the lipid-rich cells such that the lipid-rich cells are substantially affected while non-lipid-rich cells in the epidermis are not substantially affected;
- and
- a substantially flexible sensing device disposed in the interface between the heat exchanging member and the subject's skin, wherein the sensing device is configured to sense a parameter at the interface.
A sensing device for measuring parameters of a heat transfer interface between a subject having skin and a cooling device, comprising:
- a substantially flexible substrate positioned in the heat transfer interface between the subject's skin and the cooling device, the substrate having a surface facing the cooling device;
- and
- a sensor disposed on the surface of the substrate, the sensor configured to measure a temperature of the heat transfer interface without substantially impeding heat transfer between the cooling device and the subject's skin.
A method of applying a cooling device configured for removing heat from a subject having skin, comprising:
- disposing a sensing device proximate to the cooling device, the sensing device being substantially flexible and at least partially conforming to the cooling device;
- positioning the cooling device and the sensing device proximate to the subject's skin, wherein the cooling device and the subject's skin form a heat transfer interface, in which the sensing device is positioned;
- measuring a parameter of the heat transfer interface using the sensing device;
- and
- removing heat from a region of the subject's skin under the epidermis such that lipid-rich cells are substantially affected while non-lipid-rich cells in the epidermis are not substantially affected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.