Method for controlling skin temperature during thermal treatment

1. A system for treating skin, comprising:

(a) a surface radiation assembly configured to irradiate a region on the surface of the skin with electromagnetic radiation;

(b) a surface electrode assembly structurally separate from said surface radiation assembly and comprising at least a first pair of a first electrode and a second electrode, the first and second electrodes being configured to be applied to the surface of the skin and to apply a voltage to the skin surface;

(c) an electrical meter configured to measure an electrical response of the skin to a voltage applied across the electrodes; and

(d) a processor configured to adjust a value of a parameter of the electromagnetic radiation based upon a measured electrical response to a voltage applied across the first and second electrodes.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the value of the parameter is adjusted in order to control skin temperature.

3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the parameter is selected from the group comprising:

1. irradiation intensity;

2. irradiation pulse duration

3. irradiation pulse frequency.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the voltage applied to the skin is in the radio frequency.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the electrical response of the skin is skin impedance or a skin conductivity.

6. The system according to claim 5 wherein at least one of the intensity, pulse duration, and pulse frequency of the radiation is decreased by the processor when the skin impedance decreases below a predetermined value.

7. A system for treating skin, comprising:

(a) a source of radiation configured to irradiate a region of the skin;

(b) at least a first pair of a first electrode and a second electrode, the first and second electrodes being configured to apply a voltage to the skin;

(c) an electrical meter configured to measure an electrical response of the skin to a voltage applied across the electrodes, wherein the electrical response of the skin is skin impedance or skin conductivity; and

(d) a processor configured to adjust value of a parameter of the radiation based upon a measured electrical response to a voltage applied across the first and second electrodes,

wherein the processor is further configured to store in a memory a table assigning value of one or more parameters of the irradiation to each of one or more non-overlapping impedance ranges, and the value of a parameter of the radiation is adjusted to a value assigned by the table to an impedance measurement.

8. A method for treating skin comprising:

(a) irradiating a region of the skin with electromagnetic radiation from a surface radiation assembly;

(b) applying a voltage to the skin from a surface electrode assembly spaced from the surface radiation assembly;

(c) measuring an electrical response of the skin to the applied voltage; and

(d) adjusting a value of a parameter of the electromagnetic radiation from the surface radiation assembly based upon the measured electrical response.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the value of the parameter is adjusted in order to control skin temperature.

10. The method according to claim 8 wherein the source of radiation is a voltage applied to the skin.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the voltage applied to the skin is in the radio frequency range.

12. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the parameter is selected from the group comprising:

1. irradiation intensity;

2. irradiation pulse duration

3. irradiation pulse frequency.

13. The method according to claim 8 wherein the electrical response of the skin is a skin impedance.

14. The method according to claim 13 wherein said step of adjusting is performed by a processor, and the at least one of the intensity, pulse duration, and pulse frequency of the radiation is decreased by the processor when the skin impedance decreases below a predetermined value.

15. The method according to claim 13 wherein said step of adjusting is performed by a processor, and the processor is further configured to store in a memory a table assigning value of one or more parameters of the irradiation to each of one or more non-overlapping impedance ranges, and the value of a parameter of the radiation is adjusted to a value assigned by the table to an impedance measurement.

16. The method according to claim 13 wherein said step of adjusting is performed by a processor, and the processor is further configured to store in a memory a threshold, and the value of a parameter of the radiation is adjusted to a predetermined value if the impedance is above a predetermined threshold, and is adjusted to 0 if the impedance is below the threshold.