Granted Patent B2

US 12,350,491 · App. 18/221,644 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Inventors: Shona Burkes-Henderson (Dallas, TX); Geetha Kalahasti (Plano, TX); David Gan (Southlake, TX)

Assignee: MARY KAY INC.

A61N1/36014A61B5/4519A61K38/4893A61Q19/08A61K49/0006A61N1/0452

Abstract

Claims (22)

1. A method for quantitatively assessing muscle contraction of a facial muscle in a person and determining the ability of a treatment material to reduce contraction of the facial muscle, the method comprising:

(a) applying an external electrical stimulus to facial skin sufficient to contract a facial muscle, wherein the external electrical stimulus is applied at an interval for 1 to 10 seconds and/or is applied for 2 to 20 intervals; and

(b) measuring the contractile activity of the contracted facial muscle by measuring the compound motor action potential (CMAP) of the contracted facial muscle to obtain a first average measurement of contractile activity of the contracted facial muscle; and then

(c) administering the treatment material by topically applying the treatment material to the facial skin; and

(d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to obtain a second average measurement of contractile activity of the contracted facial muscle,

wherein a decrease in contractile activity based on the second average measurement as compared to the first average measurement indicates that the treatment material reduces contraction of the facial muscle when administered to the facial skin.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treatment material comprises a chemical compound, a protein, a peptide, a botanical plant/plant part, or a bacteria, or combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the treatment material is a protein.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the protein is Clostridium botulinum toxin.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treatment material is comprised in a topical skin formulation.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the topical skin formulation is an emulsion.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the topical skin formulation is a gel.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the topical skin formulation is an ointment.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the topical skin formulation is a solution.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining a first image of the facial skin prior to administering the treatment material and obtaining a second image of the skin after administering the treatment material.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first and second images are used to determine the effectiveness of the treatment material to reduce the appearance of rhytides present on the facial skin.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring the contractile activity of the contracted facial muscle further comprises measuring the electrical activity of the contracted facial muscle.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring the contractile activity of the contracted facial muscle further comprises surface electromyography.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the external electrical stimulus is generated from a conductive material having a square shape, a rectangular shape, a circular shape, or a triangular shape.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method for quantitatively assessing muscle contraction of the facial muscle does not rely on the use of voluntary contractions of the facial muscle by the person.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the facial muscle is a glabellar complex muscle, an orbicularis oculi muscle, a depressor muscle, or a frontalis muscle, or any combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the facial skin includes a rhytide.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (20)