Monitoring the cooling of subcutaneous lipid-rich cells, such as the cooling of adipose tissue
AssigneeZeltiq Aesthetics, Inc.
InventorsMitchell E. Levinson, Jesse Nicasio Rosen, Corydon A. Hinton, Kevin S. Springer
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Abstract
A system and method of monitoring, controlling and/or detecting events during the removal of heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich tissue is described. In some examples, the system detects an increase in temperature at a treatment device in contact with the skin of a subject, determines that the increase in temperature is related to a treatment event, and performs an action based on the determination. In some examples, the system shuts off the treatment device, alerts an operator, or reduces the cooling in response to a determined treatment event.
Claims23
A non-invasive treatment system for transdermally removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject, comprising:
- a transdermal treatment device configured to contact an area of skin of a subject and to remove heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of the subject to affect the subcutaneous lipid-rich cells;
- and
- a controlling device that modifies operation of the non-invasive treatment system in response to an increase in power demand of one or more components of the non-invasive treatment system, wherein the increase in power demand is caused, at least in part, by at least partial freezing of the subject's skin.
A non-invasive treatment system for transdermally removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject, comprising:
- a transdermal treatment device configured to engage an area of skin of a subject and to transdermally cool subcutaneous tissue of the subject;
- a freezing event detector configured to identify an increase in heat absorption by the transdermal treatment device caused by the transdermal treatment device absorbing thermal energy associated with crystallization in the subject's skin when the skin at least partially freezes;
- and
- a controlling device that modifies operation of the non-invasive treatment system to adjust a rate of heat absorption by the transdermal treatment device based on the freezing event detector identifying the increase in heat absorption.
A non-invasive treatment system for transdermally removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject, comprising:
- a transdermal treatment device configured to engage an area of skin of a subject and to transdermally cool and affect subcutaneous tissue of the subject;
- a freezing event detector configured to identify a change in operation of the non-invasive treatment system caused by the transdermal treatment device absorbing heat associated with crystallization of the skin caused by at least partially freezing of the subject's skin;
- and
- a controlling device that adjusts operation of the non-invasive treatment system based on the freezing event detector identifying the change in operation of the non-invasive treatment system.
A method of controlling operation of a non-invasive treatment system that removes heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject, the method comprising:
- removing heat from the subcutaneous lipid-rich cells using a transdermal treatment device of the non-invasive treatment system;
- identifying a change in power demand of the non-invasive treatment system caused by at least partial freezing of the subject's skin while the transdermal treatment device removes the heat from the subcutaneous lipid-rich cells;
- and
- performing an action based on the identified change in power demand.
A non-invasive treatment system for transdermally removing heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells of a subject, comprising:
- a transdermal treatment device configured to contact an area of the subject's skin and to remove heat from subcutaneous lipid-rich cells to affect the subcutaneous lipid-rich cells;
- and
- a controlling device programmed to monitor power demand of one or more cooling devices of the non-invasive treatment system while the cooling devices are absorbing heat from the subject, and wherein the controlling device is programmed to modify operation of the non-invasive treatment system to reduce a rate of heat absorption by the one or more cooling devices in response to a change in the power demand of the one or more cooling devices corresponding to a freezing event in the subject's tissue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.