Radiation-Based Dermatological Devices and Methods

1 . A self-contained, hand-held device for delivering fractional radiation-based treatment to the skin, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a radiation source supported in the device body, the radiation source including a beam source configured to generate an energy beam;

an application end configured to be manually moved across the surface of the skin during a treatment session;

electronics configured to control the radiation source during the treatment session such that the beam source emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots; and

wherein each energy beam emitted by the pulsed beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 1.0 mm 2 .

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 0.4 mm 2 .

4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 0.1 mm 2 .

5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 0.05 mm.

6 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising a displacement control system including:

a displacement sensor configured to determine a displacement of the device relative to the skin; and

electronics configured to control at least one operational parameter of the device based on the determined displacement of the device relative to the skin.

7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device includes no optics that move with respect to the device body.

8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device includes no optics downstream of the beam source.

9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the beam source has an emitter surface; and

the emitter surface is arranged such that when the application end is in contact with the skin, the emitter surface of the beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 10 mm.

10 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the beam source has an emitter surface; and

the emitter surface is arranged such that when the application end is in contact with the skin, the emitter surface of the beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 2 mm.

11 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the beam source has an emitter surface; and

the emitter surface is arranged such that when the application end is in contact with the skin, the emitter surface of the beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 1 mm.

12 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the beam source has an emitter surface; and

the emitter surface is arranged such that when the application end is in contact with the skin, the emitter surface of the beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 0.5 mm.

13 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each energy beam emitted by the pulsed beam source is divergent in at least one direction upon incidence with the skin surface.

14 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the beam source comprises an edge emitted laser diode; and

each pulsed energy beam emitted by the edge emitted laser diode is divergent in both a fast axis and a slow axis upon incidence with the skin surface.

15 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the radiation source comprises a solid-state laser.

16 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the radiation source comprises an edge emitted laser diode.

17 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the radiation source comprises a laser diode bar.

18 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the radiation source comprises a VCSEL laser.

19 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the radiation source comprises multiple beam sources, each configured to generate an energy beam;

the electronics are configured to control the radiation source during the treatment session such that each of the multiple beam sources emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots; and

wherein for each of the multiple beam sources, each pulsed energy beam emitted by that beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body.

20 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the radiation source comprises a single beam source configured to generate a single beam.

21 . The device of claim 20 , wherein a treatment session includes a plurality of manual glides of the device across the surface of the skin, and wherein each manual glide of the device along a particular direction generates a one-dimensional array of spaced-apart treatment spots along the particular direction.

22 . The device of claim 20 , wherein during a treatment session that includes one or more manual glides of the device across the skin, the location of each treatment spot relative to every other treatment spot generated during the treatment session depends on the manual movement of the device across the skin.

23 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the beam source is controlled to emit pulsed energy beams at a pulse repetition frequency of between 1 and 50 Hz.

24 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the beam source is controlled to emit pulsed energy beams at a pulse repetition frequency of between 15 and 25 Hz.

25 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device includes no moving parts for generating and delivering the pulsed energy beams to the skin.

26 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the beam source remains fixed in location and direction with respect to the device body.

27 . A self-contained, hand-held device for delivering fractional radiation-based treatment to the skin, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a radiation source supported in the device body, the radiation source including a beam source configured to generate an energy beam;

an application end configured to be manually moved across the surface of the skin during treatment;

electronics configured to control the radiation source such that the beam source emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin during manual movement of the device across the surface of the skin to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots; and

wherein the device includes no optics that move with respect to the device body.

28 . A self-contained, hand-held device for delivering fractional radiation-based treatment to the skin, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a radiation source supported in the device body, the radiation source including a beam source configured to generate an energy beam;

an application end configured to be manually moved across the surface of the skin during treatment;

electronics configured to control the radiation source such that the beam source emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin during manual movement of the device across the surface of the skin in a plurality of manual glides of the device to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots; and

wherein each manual glide of the device in a general direction generates an array of treatment spots having generally randomized locations in both in the general direction of the manual glide and in a direction perpendicular to the general direction of the manual glide.

29 . A self-contained, hand-held device for delivering fractional radiation-based treatment to the skin, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a radiation source supported in the device body, the radiation source including a beam source configured to generate an energy beam;

an application end configured to be manually moved across the surface of the skin during a treatment session;

electronics configured to control the radiation source during the treatment session such that the beam source emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots;

wherein each energy beam emitted by the pulsed beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body; and

a displacement control system including:

a displacement sensor configured to determine a displacement of the device relative to the skin; and

electronics configured to control at least one operational parameter of the device based on the determined displacement of the device relative to the skin.

30 . A self-contained, hand-held device for delivering fractional radiation-based treatment to the skin, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a radiation source supported in the device body, the radiation source including a beam source configured to generate an energy beam;

an application end configured to be manually moved across the surface of the skin during a treatment session;

electronics configured to control the radiation source during the treatment session such that the beam source emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots;

wherein each energy beam emitted by the pulsed beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body; and

wherein the device includes no optics downstream of the beam source.

31 . A self-contained, hand-held device for delivering fractional radiation-based treatment to the skin, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a single beam source supported in the device body, the single beam source configured to generate a single energy beam;

an application end configured to be manually moved across the surface of the skin during a treatment session;

electronics configured to control the single beam source during the treatment session such that the single beam source emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots;

wherein each energy beam emitted by the single beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body.

32 . The device of claim 31 , wherein a treatment session includes a plurality of manual glides of the device across the surface of the skin, and wherein each manual glide of the device along a particular direction generates a one-dimensional array of spaced-apart treatment spots along the particular direction.

33 . The device of claim 31 , wherein during a treatment session that includes one or more manual glides of the device across the skin, the location of each treatment spot relative to every other treatment spot generated during the treatment session depends on the manual movement of the device across the skin.

34 . A self-contained, hand-held device for delivering fractional radiation-based treatment to the skin, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a radiation source supported in the device body, the radiation source including a beam source configured to generate an energy beam;

an application end configured to be manually moved across the surface of the skin during a treatment session;

electronics configured to control the radiation source during the treatment session such that the beam source emits a sequence of pulsed energy beams to the skin to generate an array of treatment spots on the skin, wherein adjacent treatment spots generated on the skin are spaced apart from each other by areas of non-treated skin between the adjacent treatment spots; and

wherein each energy beam emitted by the pulsed beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body.