Radiation-Based Dermatological Devices and Methods

1 . A self-contained, hand-held device for providing radiation-based dermatological treatments, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a laser device supported in the device body, the laser device including a laser beam source configured to emit laser radiation;

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

electronics configured to control the laser beam source to emit laser radiation toward the skin to provide a dermatological treatment;

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

2 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising a window or film downstream of the laser beam source.

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein, when the application end is in contact with the skin, the laser beam source is separated from the skin surface by only an air gap.

4 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising electronics configured to pulse the laser beam source to emit a sequence of pulsed 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.

5 . The device of claim 4 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 1.0 mm 2 .

6 . The device of claim 4 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 0.4 mm 2 .

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

8 . The device of claim 4 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 0.05 mm 2 .

9 . The device of claim 4 , wherein each beam emitted by the pulsed laser beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body.

10 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the beam source is controlled to emit pulsed beams at a pulse repetition frequency of between 1 and 50 Hz.

11 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the beam source is controlled to emit pulsed beams at a pulse repetition frequency of between 15 and 25 Hz.

12 . The device of claim 4 , 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.

13 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one contact sensor configured to generate signals for determining whether the an application end is in contact with the device; and

controls configured to control at least one operational parameter of the device based on signals from the at least one contact sensor.

14 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each beam emitted by the pulsed laser beam source has the same, fixed propagation path with respect to the device body.

15 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the laser 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 laser beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 10 mm.

16 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the laser 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 laser beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 2 mm.

17 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the laser 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 laser beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 1 mm.

18 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the laser 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 laser beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 0.5 mm.

19 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the laser device comprises multiple laser beam sources, each configured to generate a laser beam.

20 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the laser device comprises a single laser beam source.

21 . The device of claim 20 , wherein

the single laser beam source is pulsed to emit a sequence of pulsed 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

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 each beam emitted by the pulsed laser beam source is divergent in at least one direction upon incidence with the skin surface.

24 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

the laser 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.

25 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the laser device comprises a solid-state laser.

26 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the laser device comprises an edge emitted laser diode.

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

28 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the laser device comprises a VCSEL laser.

29 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the laser radiation emitted from the application end of the device meets the Class 1M or better eye safety classification per the IEC 60825-1.

30 . A device for providing radiation-based dermatological treatments, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a VCSEL laser supported in the device body, the VCSEL laser including a VCSEL beam source configured to emit laser radiation;

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

electronics configured to control the VCSEL beam source to emit laser radiation toward the skin to provide a dermatological treatment;

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

31 . The device of claim 30 , further comprising a window or film downstream of the VCSEL beam source.

32 . The device of claim 30 , wherein, when the application end is in contact with the skin, the VCSEL beam source is separated from the skin surface by only an air gap.

33 . The device of claim 30 , further comprising electronics configured to pulse the VCSEL beam source to emit a sequence of pulsed 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.

34 . The device of claim 30 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 0.4 mm 2 .

35 . The device of claim 30 , wherein each treatment spot has an instantaneous area of less than 0.1 mm 2 .

36 . The device of claim 30 , wherein:

the VCSEL 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 laser beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 10 mm.

37 . The device of claim 30 , wherein:

the VCSEL 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 laser beam source is spaced from the skin surface by less than 1 mm.

38 . The device of claim 30 , wherein the VCSEL laser comprises a single VCSEL beam source including multiple micro-emitters arranged to generate a single collective beam to generate a single treatment spot.

39 . The device of claim 38 , wherein the collective beam is axially symmetric.

40 . The device of claim 30 , wherein the VCSEL laser comprises multiple VCSEL beam sources configured to generate multiple discrete laser beams for generating multiple discrete treatment spots on the skin, each beam source including multiple micro-emitters arranged to collectively generate one of the multiple discrete laser beams for generating one of the discrete treatment spots on the skin.

41 . The device of claim 40 , wherein each of the multiple discrete laser beams is axially symmetric.

42 . The device of claim 30 , wherein the VCSEL laser includes multiple micro-emitters arranged in an array of multiple emitter zones to provide multiple beam sources for generating multiple discrete treatment spots on the skin, each emitter zone including a plurality of micro-emitters configured to collectively generate a discrete laser beam for generating one of the discrete treatment spots on the skin.

43 . The device of claim 42 , wherein the array of multiple emitter zones comprises a substantially one-dimensional array.

44 . The device of claim 42 , wherein the array of multiple emitter zones comprises a substantially two-dimensional array.

45 . The device of claim 42 , wherein at least two of the multiple emitter zones are independently addressable or controllable with respect to each other, such that at least one operational parameter of the at least two emitter zones can be independently controlled.

46 . The device of claim 30 , further comprising electronics configured to pulse the VCSEL laser to emit a sequence of pulsed beams;

wherein the VCSEL laser comprises a single VCSEL beam source to generate a single treatment spot per pulse of the VCSEL laser.

47 . The device of claim 30 , further comprising electronics configured to pulse the VCSEL laser to emit a sequence of pulsed beams;

wherein the VCSEL laser comprises a multiple discrete VCSEL beam sources to generate multiple discrete treatment spots per pulse of the VCSEL laser.

48 . The device of claim 30 , wherein the radiation emitted by the VCSEL laser is divergent in at least one direction upon incidence with the skin surface.

49 . The device of claim 30 , wherein the laser radiation emitted from the application end of the device meets the Class 1M or better eye safety classification per the IEC 60825-1.

50 . The device of claim 30 , wherein the device is configured for operation in a manual glide mode.

51 . The device of claim 30 , wherein the device is configured for operation in a manual stamping mode.

52 . A self-contained, hand-held device for providing radiation-based dermatological treatments, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a laser device supported in the device body, the laser device including a laser beam source configured to emit laser radiation;

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

electronics configured to pulse the laser beam source to emit a sequence of pulsed 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 the device includes no optics downstream of the laser source.

53 . A self-contained, hand-held device for providing radiation-based dermatological treatments, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a single laser beam source supported in the device body and configured to emit a single laser 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 laser beam source to emit the single laser beam toward the skin to provide a dermatological treatment;

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

54 . The device of claim 53 , further comprising electronics configured to pulse the single laser beam source to emit the single laser beam in a sequence of pulses

55 . A self-contained, hand-held device for providing radiation-based dermatological treatments, the device comprising:

a device body configured to be handheld by a user;

a laser device supported in the device body, the laser device including a laser beam source configured to emit laser radiation;

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

electronics configured to control the laser beam source to emit laser radiation toward the skin to provide a dermatological treatment;

wherein the device includes no optics downstream of the laser source; 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.