JPH0636768B2 - Optical hair removal device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention irradiates visible light to the area on the skin surface where hair removal is desired, and limits the biological tissue near the hair root to the dermis area by photothermal reaction to dryness. The present invention relates to an optical hair removal device for permanent hair removal.

[Conventional technology]

Various hair removal devices have already been developed to remove unwanted or waste hair. For example, an electric hair removal device using a current terminal such as an electrode tweezer facilitates hair removal by directly applying a direct current or a high frequency current to a desired location to cause heat generation or electrolysis in a hair root and cell tissues around the hair root to modify the living tissue. ing. Furthermore, an apparatus for radiating hair by directly irradiating the skin surface with ultraviolet rays or laser light to chemically change the hair root or the cell tissue around it is also known.

When performing hair removal using these devices, there is a possibility that a strong electrochemical change or chemical change may be applied to the surface of the skin other than the hair, which is always a problem. Such changes are usually accompanied by unavoidable pain, and in some cases, they may cause sequelae such as bruise and rash at or around a specific place on the surface of the skin that has been irradiated with light.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a photoepilation device that eliminates the difficulties caused by the epilation method using the conventional device described above, enhances the efficiency of the epilation treatment and the accuracy of permanent epilation, and at the same time can be operated safely and with peace of mind. Especially.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, the above-mentioned problems are two types of light emitting sources having main intensities in visible light regions corresponding to red and blue, respectively, and irradiation intensity of light emitted from both the light emitting sources. And a main body equipped with a control circuit for setting the irradiation time, an attached irradiation probe for irradiating the skin with light, a flexible connecting portion for connecting between the main body and the attached irradiation probe, and further This has been solved by also having a function part for separately switching and irradiating the above two kinds of light to the main body.

Other advantageous configurations are described in the dependent patent contracts.

[Action]

The photo epilator according to the present invention generates (1) red light (having a spectral distribution having a main intensity at a wavelength λ = 680 nm) and blue light (having a spectral distribution having a main intensity at a wavelength λ = 470 nm). Equipped with two light sources, the irradiation of red light and blue light with a predetermined intensity drys the tissue factors of hair in the deep and shallow regions of the dermis of the skin, respectively.

(2) The light emitted from the above two light sources can be guided to two independent or one independent irradiation probe, and a desired amount of light can be irradiated from the tip of this probe to the skin.

(3) The diffuse optical system that can be attached to the tip of the probe allows red light to be applied to a wide range of skin surfaces with low irradiation intensity.

(4) The electric control unit and the external setting unit can independently change the irradiation intensity and irradiation time of red light and blue light, and the irradiation can be started by pressing an external switch and automatically interrupted after a predetermined time. .

〔Example〕

Before describing the details of the photo epilation device according to the present invention, the procedure and the contents of the photo epilation method performed using this device will be described.

The hair removal method according to the present invention can be classified into pretreatment, dryness of hair root tissue, hair removal treatment, and posttreatment according to the order of treatment. In Table I, The effect of the treatment in terms of the treatment conditions at each stage and the reaction of the skin tissue at that time are shown.

In the first stage, as a pretreatment, relatively weak irradiation light (color light) is applied to a wide area on the skin surface to open pores and pre-elevate the temperature of the sebaceous gland (the term of living tissue related to hair and corresponding structure). See Fig. 5 for the arrangement above. By this treatment, it is possible to prepare for coping with the burden that will be added to the skin by hair removal, and at the same time, hair removal can be performed safely and smoothly.

In the second and third steps, the main treatment of the present invention is mainly to dry only the living tissue in the dermis, that is, the sebaceous glands and the hair factors in the hair follicles, the papillae and the like. That is, it is a treatment that enables so-called permanent hair loss by drying the factors of the hair that cause regeneration of hair that is currently growing and resting hair roots after hair loss. In this case, the light irradiation area is narrowed and the light quantity of the irradiation light is made stronger than in the first stage. It should be noted that the second and third steps can be performed by a single treatment because the red light and the blue light are mixed and irradiated when the single irradiation probe described in detail later is used.

The fourth step corresponds to the procedure to remove hair from which hair root tissue has dried up in the irradiated dermis, by applying depilatory wax to the irradiated area and peeling the adhesive tape from the skin of the hair-removed area. Remove unwanted hair.

In the fifth step, the protein of hair factor is decomposed by proteolytic enzyme and the application agent that suppresses the growth and development of hair is rubbed against the direction of the hair (the direction toward the side where the hair is inclined). Put in.

In the sixth step, in order to further activate the function of the coating agent applied in the fifth step, weak red light having a wide irradiation area is applied to the skin surface of the hair-removed part as in the first step.

At the 7th stage, alleviation of the burden on the skin caused by hair loss.
To soothe, a sedative application agent is applied to the hair removal site to complete a series of hair removal treatments.

As can be understood from the above description, the hair removal device according to the present invention is used in the first, second, third and sixth treatment steps of irradiating the skin with visible light mainly composed of intensity and blue / red. ing. In Table I, irradiation intensity and irradiation time are shown as irradiation conditions, but these numerical values can be changed appropriately according to the design concept of the apparatus, and are only entered as a preferred embodiment for reference.

This hair removal method is based on Arnz-Schultz's law regarding biological stimulation. "Weak or moderate stimulation to the biological body promotes biological reaction, and excessive stimulation suppresses and stops this reaction." by. That is, in the case of this invention,
The stimulus is light, and the biological reaction is a mild stimulus, which corresponds to the preheating in the first step and the treatment to activate the action of the proteolytic enzyme in the sixth step. Corresponding second and third stage treatments that result in factor desiccation.

Based on the content of the hair removal method described above, the configuration and function of the optical hair removal device according to the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1A schematically shows the photoepilation device of the first embodiment according to the present invention. This device is roughly classified, and the hair removing device main body 1, the single irradiation probe 5, and both members 1 and 5 are modified.
The light guide cables 6 ₁ and 6 ₂ are movably connected to each other. The main body 1 is provided with a light source 3 for red light, a light source 4 for blue light, and a control circuit 2 equipped to control these light sources. The light guide cables 6 ₁ , 6 ₂ connected to both light sources 3, 4 are joined together at the irradiation probe 5. Further, the control circuit 2 is provided with irradiation condition setting sections for red light and blue light. The irradiation condition setting unit for red includes an irradiation intensity setting unit VIR and an irradiation time setting unit VTR. The irradiation light can be switched to either automatic or manual mode to irradiate the skin. The changeover switch SR for red color performs the changeover. Usually, the light irradiation is performed in the automatic mode. The manual mode is used when the irradiation conditions are preliminarily set in order to maintain the irradiation conditions constant even when there are many irradiation points.
In particular, it is indispensable to appropriately preset the irradiation intensity and / or irradiation time depending on the strength of the hair, that is, the soft hair, the hard hair, etc. depending on the person.

A similar irradiation condition setting unit is provided for blue light. That is, the blue automatic / manual switch SB, the irradiation intensity setting unit VIB, and the irradiation time setting unit VTB.
Furthermore, an external switch S ₀ is installed outside the main body 1,
The switch S ₀ may be, for example, a foot switch or a small pressure contact type switch that can be operated by a fingertip incorporated in the irradiation probe 5. The role of this switch S ₀ is shown in Table I.
The irradiation of light is started during the treatment in steps 1, 2, 3 and 6, and then irradiation is terminated after irradiation for a time designated by the irradiation time setting unit VTR or VTB.

The designation of the intensity of light to be radiated and whether to illuminate or not can be achieved by various known methods. The red light source 3 of FIG. 1A uses, for example, a tungsten / halogen lamp, and the electric power supplied to the light source is varied in intensity and intermittently to vary the intensity of irradiation light and to perform irradiation / non-irradiation. It depends on the method. Further, a xenon lamp can be used in the blue light source 4 shown in FIG. 1A, but in this case, a standby time of a certain period is required until it becomes a normal usage state, so that the power supply is supplied each time when the light is irradiated. It is improper to perform intermittent and variable operations.
Rather, it is a mechanical method of varying using shutters and variable apertures known per se, as implicitly shown inside the blue light source 4 in FIG. 1A. The control in this case takes place via the conductor B with the aid of an electrical control signal.

Furthermore, the irradiation probe 5 and both light sources 3 in FIG.
In FIG. 4, a focusing optical system, which is implied in the form of a lens, is introduced. This optical system can improve the use efficiency and the transmission efficiency of the irradiation light. This point will be described later in more detail with a specific example.

The photoepilation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1B uses the single irradiation probe 5 as in the device shown in FIG. 1A, but has one light guide cable 6. In this case, the main body 1 has a light mixing unit 7 that mixes red light and blue light.
And a light guide cable 6 is connected to the outlet of the mixing section 7. Various known methods can be envisioned for mixing red and blue light. FIG. 1B implicitly shows a known system which is composed of a reflecting mirror and semitransparent optical glass and is installed at an angle of 45 ° with respect to incident light of red or blue.

The optical hair removing device of the third embodiment according to the present invention shown in Figure 2A, two of the irradiating probe for red light and blue light 5 ₁
When 5 ₂ intended to be used separately, connection between the body 1 and both illumination probe 5 ₁ and 5 ₂ are respectively performed by an optical conductor cable 6 _{1 and} 6 _2. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1A.

In the optical depilation apparatus of the fourth embodiment according to the invention shown in Figure 2B, two illumination probe 5 ₂ and 8 are used.
In this case, Figure 1A is blue light, have been introduced in the probe 5 ₂ by the light conductor cable 6 ₂ As with Figure 1B and Figure 2A, differs from the Figure 2A, the red light The main body 1 is obtained directly from the light emission source provided in the probe 8.
This is because the connection between the red light probe 8 and the red light probe 8 is made through an electric conductor A which is lightweight and flexible. Therefore, in this case, the optical transmission by the optical conductor cable can be omitted.

FIG. 3A shows a specific example of the irradiation probe 8 shown in FIG. 2B, and a halogen lamp 11 is provided in the probe body 14. The entire probe is carried by gripping the grip 23, and the light irradiation position can be easily moved on the skin surface (the lower part of the grip is omitted for simplicity in FIG. 3A). In the above example, the red light is emitted from the lamp 11. Although a part of the emitted light goes rearward, it is condensed forward by the condensing optical system formed by the reflector 12, and is emitted to the outside from the probe tip 26 via the light pipe 16. With this method, the light emission efficiency can be improved. Although schematically shown in FIG. 3A, the inner cylinder 15 used as a light shielding case
It is effective to discharge heated air, for example, by providing an air vent or a vent. If necessary, a blower for forced ventilation can be installed.

Further, on the right side of FIG. 3A, there is shown an adapter drawn separately from the tip 26 of the probe body 14. This adapter can be attached to and detached from the probe body 14 (the attached state is partially shown by a dotted line). A diffusing lens 19 is provided in the adapter body 17 to diffuse the light emitted from the tip 26 of the probe to weaken the light intensity per unit area and at the same time to expand the irradiation area. The lens is screwed to the body 17 by an adapter cap 18 via an O-ring packing 20. As a method of realizing other than this specific example, there is a method of inserting a semitransparent light scatterer into the optical path instead of the lens. The switch S2 on the grip 23 corresponds to the external switch S0 shown in FIG. 2A, and is used to start the irradiation by pressing the switch S0 when the place to irradiate the light is determined.

FIG. 3B shows a cap 27 that is attached to the tip 26 of the probe of FIG. 3A. This cap is
It is used for the irradiation treatment corresponding to the third stage, that is, when red light is applied to the skin with a high irradiation intensity. In this procedure, the cap tip 25 is directly applied to the skin to emit light,
The distance (L) between the skin and the emission port is always constant, and the irradiation conditions can be maintained constant at any place. Furthermore, if the cap itself is made of an opaque synthetic resin material, there is no light leakage from the irradiation site to the outside, it is not dazzling when observing the skin surface to be irradiated, and it does not damage the eyes.

FIG. 4 shows an irradiation probe for blue light which can be used in FIGS. 2A and 2B. The probe shown here can also be used for red / blue mixed light (when corresponding to FIG. 1B). In this case, of the fibers present in the protective sheath 32 of the optical conductor cable of the optical conductor cable 6 _{2 (or} 6) in the bundle 31
Directly reaches the tip of the probe. Therefore, since the transmission of light is efficiently introduced into the opening 35 by the total reflection of the optical fiber, it is not necessary to equip a special condensing optical system. Even in the case of this irradiation probe, the cap 34 is attached to the tip.
With the attached, the constant irradiation condition described with reference to FIG. 3B can be maintained, and at the same time, the light shielding effect can be obtained.

〔The invention's effect〕

With the photo-hair removal device according to the present invention, (a) hair factors in the dermis, sebaceous glands, and cellular tissues in hair follicles can be dried to effectively perform permanent hair removal treatment.

(b) Furthermore, preliminary light irradiation for safer and psychologically safe hair removal, which is mentally and biologically burdensome, can be performed, and pores can be opened and the sebaceous gland can be preheated.

(c) The post-irradiation further activates the action of the proteolytic enzyme in the dried and dried biological tissue, and further secures permanent hair loss.

(d) It is possible to automatically stop the irradiation after a predetermined time has passed since the electric control section started the irradiation, and it is possible to reliably operate at the same irradiation condition at any irradiation position.

(e) Since the irradiation intensity can be varied, it is possible to irradiate an appropriate and safe amount of light according to soft hair, bristles, etc.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a schematic view of a photoepilation device of the first embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 1B is a schematic view of the photo epilation device of the second embodiment according to the present invention (the same as FIG. 1A, although a part of the main body is omitted). FIG. 2A is a schematic view of a photo epilation device of a third embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 2B is a schematic view of the photo epilation device of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention (the same as FIG. 2A, although a part of the main body is omitted). FIG. 3A is a sectional view of an irradiation probe and a diffused light adapter incorporating a red light source of a tungsten halogen lamp. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the irradiation probe shown in FIG. 3A when an adapter for strong irradiation light is attached to the tip thereof. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an irradiation probe for blue light. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the skin related to hair. Reference symbols in the figure: 1 ... Hair removal device body, 2 ... Control circuit, 3, 4 ... Light source, 5, 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ ... Irradiation probe, 6, 6 ₁ , 6 ₂ ... Optical conductor cable, 7 ... Light mixing section, SR, SB ... Automatic / manual switch, VIR, VIB ... Irradiation intensity setting section, VTR, VTB ... Irradiation time setting section, S0 ... External switch.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (56) References JP-A-60-92701 (JP, A) US Patent 4388924 (US, A) US Patent 3693623 (US, A)

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A main body equipped with two kinds of light emitting sources having main intensities in visible light regions corresponding to red and blue, respectively, and a control circuit for setting irradiation intensity and irradiation time of light emitted from both of the light emitting sources. And an attached irradiation probe for irradiating the skin with light, a flexible connecting portion for connecting between the main body and the attached irradiation probe, and further irradiating the main body with the above-mentioned two kinds of light separately switched. An optical hair removal device, which also has a functional part. 2. A single irradiation probe is provided, two types of light emission sources are provided in the main body, and the connecting portion is composed of a single light guide cable. Equipment. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein there are two attached irradiation probes, two kinds of light emitting sources are installed in the main body, and the connecting portion is composed of two optical conductor cables. The described device. 4. The number of attached irradiation probes is two, one emission probe is equipped with one emission light source, and the connecting portion disposed between the main body and the attached irradiation probe is an electric wire. Yes, the other attached irradiation probe is equipped with a light emission source inside the main body, and the connecting portion arranged between the main body and the other attached irradiation probe is composed of a light guide cable. The device according to claim 1. 5. The light diffusing cap for reducing the irradiation intensity and expanding the irradiation range can be attached to the tip of the attached irradiation probe for red light. The device according to paragraph. 6. The cap according to claim 1, wherein a cap for shielding light while maintaining a constant irradiation interval can be attached to the tip of the attached irradiation probe. apparatus. 7. An external switch is installed outside the main body to start irradiation of light when pressed and interrupt the irradiation according to a set irradiation time.
The device according to paragraph.