U.S. patent application number 12/964774 was filed with the patent office on 2011-06-16 for phototherapy apparatus with interactive user interface.
This patent application is currently assigned to BWT PROPERTY, INC.. Invention is credited to Brian Pryor, Sean Xiaolu Wang.
Application Number | 20110144725 12/964774 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44143785 |
Filed Date | 2011-06-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110144725 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Pryor; Brian ; et
al. |
June 16, 2011 |
Phototherapy Apparatus With Interactive User Interface
Abstract
A phototherapy apparatus with interactive user interface for
treating biological tissue of an animal or human target. The user
interface comprises intuitive graphic menus which allow the
clinicians or practitioners to define the properties of the
biological tissue through easily observable physical
characteristics such as weight, skin color, and hair color of the
patient. The central control unit of the phototherapy apparatus
then automatically optimizes the parameters of the light source
according to the properties of the biological tissue and generates
an appropriate treatment protocol to produce the optimum
phototherapy result.
Inventors: |
Pryor; Brian; (Newark,
DE) ; Wang; Sean Xiaolu; (Wilmington, DE) |
Assignee: |
BWT PROPERTY, INC.
Newark
DE
|
Family ID: |
44143785 |
Appl. No.: |
12/964774 |
Filed: |
December 10, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61285762 |
Dec 11, 2009 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
607/89 ; 607/88;
715/764 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61N 2005/0626 20130101;
G16H 20/30 20180101; A61N 5/0601 20130101; G16H 40/63 20180101;
G06F 19/00 20130101; G16H 30/20 20180101; A61N 5/06 20130101; G16H
40/20 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
607/89 ; 607/88;
715/764 |
International
Class: |
A61N 5/06 20060101
A61N005/06; A61N 5/067 20060101 A61N005/067; G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048 |
Claims
1. A phototherapy apparatus for treating an animal or human target,
said phototherapy apparatus comprising: at least one light source
for producing therapeutic light; an interactive user interface
allowing a user to define medical conditions and physical
characteristics of the animal or human target; and a central
control unit for automatically optimizing parameters of said
therapeutic light in accordance to said user defined medical
conditions and physical characteristics to generate an optimum
treatment protocol for treating the animal or human target.
2. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said interactive
user interface comprises at least one of 2-D and 3-D graphics and
animations for assisting the user to define said medical conditions
and physical characteristics of the animal or human target.
3. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said central
control unit estimates at least one of an absorption coefficient, a
scattering coefficient, and a penetration depth for said
therapeutic light based on said user defined physical
characteristics of the animal or human target.
4. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said parameters
of said therapeutic light comprise at least one of wavelength,
power density, energy fluence, and pulsing parameters.
5. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said medical
conditions comprise arthritis, edema/swelling, pain trauma,
sprain/strain, wound, or post-surgical incision.
6. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said physical
characteristics comprise at least one of weight, body-build,
gender, skin color, and body part of the animal or human
target.
7. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said physical
characteristics comprise at least one of species and hair color of
the animal target.
8. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said therapeutic
light produces photochemical reaction in the animal or human
target.
9. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one
light source comprises a plurality of diode lasers.
10. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 9, wherein said plurality
of diode lasers have multiple output wavelengths.
11. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least
one light source comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes
(LEDs).
12. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 11, wherein said plurality
of LEDs have multiple output wavelengths.
13. The phototherapy apparatus of claim 1, wherein said interactive
user interface allows the user to communicate with a remote server
though a communication network.
Description
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims an invention which was disclosed in
Provisional Patent Application No. 61/285,762, filed Dec. 11, 2009,
entitled "PHOTOTHERAPY APPARATUS WITH INTERACTIVE USER INTERFACE".
The benefit under 35 USC .sctn.119(e) of the above mentioned United
States Provisional Applications is hereby claimed, and the
aforementioned application is hereby incorporated herein by
reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention generally relates to a phototherapy
apparatus, and more specifically to a phototherapy apparatus with
interactive user interface.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Phototherapy is a medical and veterinary technique which
uses lasers, LEDs (light emitting diodes), or other types of light
sources to stimulate or inhibit cellular function. Recently, this
technique has been widely used for treating soft tissue injury,
chronic pain, and promoting wound healing for both human and animal
targets. The effectiveness of phototherapy is affected by a
plurality of factors determined by the properties of the light
source, e.g. wavelength, power density, energy fluence (dose),
pulsing parameters (peak power, repetition rate, duty cycle), as
well as by the physical characteristics of the patients, e.g.
body-build, weight, gender, skin color, hair color, and body part
to be treated, which in turn affects the absorption/scattering
coefficient and penetration depth of the therapeutic light in the
biological tissue. As a result, comprehensive training and
knowledge about photon-tissue interaction are required for the
clinicians or practitioners to obtain the optimum phototherapy
result.
[0004] Existing phototherapy apparatus either require the
clinicians or practitioners to control the above mentioned
parameters of the light source directly or offer no control of
these parameters at all. The former approach proves to be a
formidable task for the clinicians or practitioners since they
generally lack the knowledge about photon-tissue interaction. The
latter approach does not yield the optimum phototherapy result or
even produces adverse effects when improper light source parameters
are applied.
[0005] There thus exists a need for an improved phototherapy
apparatus which controls the parameters of the light source in
accordance to the properties of the biological tissue so as to
obtain the optimum phototherapy result and in the meantime does not
require the clinicians or practitioners to possess comprehensive
knowledge about photon-tissue interaction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is the overall goal of the present invention to solve the
above mentioned problems and provide a phototherapy apparatus with
an interactive user interface. The user interface comprises
intuitive graphic menus which allow the clinicians or practitioners
to define the properties of the biological tissue to be treated.
The central control unit of the phototherapy apparatus then
automatically optimizes the parameters of the light source
according to the properties of the biological tissue and generates
an appropriate treatment protocol to produce the optimum
phototherapy result.
[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, the user
interface comprises intuitive drop-down and pop-up menus allowing
the user to define the properties of the biological tissue through
easily observable physical characteristics such as weight, skin
color, and hair color of the patient.
[0008] According to another aspect of the present invention, the
user interface comprises integrated 2-D and 3-D graphics and
animations for both interacting and educating purposes.
[0009] According to yet another aspect of the present invention,
the phototherapy apparatus can communicate with a remote server
though a wireless or wired communication network for performing
update on treatment protocols, manuals, educational illustrations
and videos, etc. or for performing additional functions such as
on-line billing, track of patient record, remote diagnosis of the
patient, real-time monitoring of the phototherapy unit, etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0010] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals
refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the
separate views and which together with the detailed description
below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve
to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various
principles and advantages all in accordance with the present
invention.
[0011] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary veterinary phototherapy apparatus
with an interactive user interface;
[0012] FIG. 2 shows the main menu of the interactive user interface
of the veterinary phototherapy apparatus;
[0013] FIG. 3 shows a drop-down menu of the interactive user
interface of FIG. 2 for defining the species, body weight, skin
color, and hair color of the animal to be treated;
[0014] FIG. 4 shows another drop-down menu of the interactive user
interface of FIG. 2 for defining the medical condition and body
part of the animal to be treated; and
[0015] FIG. 5 shows an operation menu of the interactive user
interface of FIG. 2 displaying an optimized treatment protocol.
[0016] Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the
figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not
necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of
some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to
other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Before describing in detail embodiments that are in
accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that
the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of method steps
and apparatus components related to a phototherapy apparatus with
interactive user interface. Accordingly, the apparatus components
and method steps have been represented where appropriate by
conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific
details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the
present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details
that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art
having the benefit of the description herein.
[0018] In this document, relational terms such as first and second,
top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one
entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily
requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between
such entities or actions. The terms "comprises," "comprising," or
any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive
inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that
comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements
but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to
such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded
by "comprises . . . a" does not, without more constraints, preclude
the existence of additional identical elements in the process,
method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
[0019] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary veterinary phototherapy apparatus
100, which has a touch screen based interactive user interface 102.
The light source (not shown) of the phototherapy apparatus 100
comprises three diode lasers operating at different wavelengths,
e.g. 630 nm, 810 nm, and 980 nm. The output of the three lasers are
combined and delivered via an optical fiber 104 to a hand piece
106, which controls the power density of the laser light and
outputs the laser light to the subject biological tissue. The 630
nm visible laser has a low output power of <5 mW and is mainly
used for aiming purposes. The two infrared lasers have high output
power adjustable in the range of 1-10 W for producing photochemical
reaction in the biological tissue, e.g. up-regulation and
down-regulation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), reactive oxygen
species, and nitric oxide. The photochemical reaction in turn
produces the following therapeutic effects: (i) stimulating white
blood cell activity; (ii) accelerating macrophage activity, growth
factor secretion and collagen synthesis; (iii) promoting
revascularization and micro-circulation; (iv) increasing fibroblast
numbers and collagen production; (v) accelerating epithelial cell
regeneration and speeding up wound healing; (vi) increasing
growth-phase-specific DNA synthesis; (vii) stimulating higher
activity in cell proliferation and differentiation; (viii)
increasing the intra and inter-molecular hydrogen bonding. The
output wavelengths of the two infrared lasers are designed to treat
biological tissues with different types and concentrations of
chromophores. The 810 nm wavelength is well absorbed by the
hemoglobin and melanin content of the biological tissue, while the
980 nm wavelength is efficiently absorbed by the water content. The
output of the two infrared lasers can be combined at adjustable
proportions and simultaneously applied to the biological tissue to
achieve an enhanced treatment result. Both of the two infrared
lasers can operate in a pulsed mode such that a high peak power is
produced to increase the penetration depth of the laser light
and/or to trigger nonlinear photochemical reactions yet the average
power of the laser light is maintained at low levels to avoid any
tissue damage.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 2, the main menu of the interactive user
interface 102 comprises several sub-menus which utilize 2-D and 3-D
graphics and animations for assisting the clinicians or
practitioners to optimize the treatment protocol of phototherapy.
The `Protocol` sub-menu allows the user to define the species, body
weight, skin color, and hair color of the animal. The `3D Anatomy`
sub-menu is used to define the medical condition and body part of
the animal to be treated. Once the physical characteristics and
medical conditions of the subject are properly defined, the central
control unit (not shown) of the phototherapy apparatus 100 will
generate an appropriate treatment protocol accordingly in the
`Operation` sub-menu such that the user can review and initiate the
phototherapy process. For advanced users, the `Operation` sub-menu
also allows them to create self-defined treatment protocols by
manually controlling the parameters of the light source. The main
menu of the user interface also comprises a `Library` sub-menu
which provides introduction and education materials (such as
treatment manuals, illustrations, and videos) related to
phototherapy as well as a `Setup` sub-menu for controlling the
accessories of the phototherapy apparatus 100, e.g. aiming beam
status, audio tone, foot-switch/hand-switch status, etc.
[0021] FIG. 3 shows the `Protocol` sub-menu of the interactive user
interface, which contains intuitive 2-D graphics for assisting the
users to define the species, body weight, skin color, and hair
color of the animal. Here the species and body weight (or the
body-build) of the animal affects its skin thickness, skin density,
as well as muscle and lipid content of the body, which in turn
affects the absorption/scattering coefficient and penetration depth
of the therapeutic light. The hair color of the animal, which is
mainly determined by the content of two types of melanin, i.e.
eumelanin and pheomelanin, determines the percentage loss of the
therapeutic light in the coat of the animal. For animals with
darker hair colors, it is desirable to use longer wavelengths, such
as the 980 nm therapeutic light in this example, to avoid excessive
power loss. The skin color of the animal reflects the type and
content of chromophores (e.g. hemoglobin, melanin) existing in the
skin tissue, which affects the absorption spectrum of the skin
tissue as well as the penetration depth of the therapeutic light. A
color palette (not shown) may be used here to define the skin and
hair color even more precisely.
[0022] FIG. 4 shows the `3D Anatomy` sub-menu of the interactive
user interface, which contains a 3-D animation of the selected
animal target for assisting the user to define the medical
condition (e.g. arthritis, edema/swelling, pain trauma,
sprain/strain, wound, and post-surgical incision) and body part of
the animal to be treated. These two parameters are the main factors
that determine the required wavelength, power density, energy
fluence (dose), and pulsing parameters for the therapeutic light.
For example, the medical condition of the animal determines which
kind of photochemical reaction should be triggered in the tissue.
Correspondingly, the laser wavelength, power density, energy
fluence (dose), and pulsing parameters should be selected to
produce the desired photochemical reaction most effectively. The
medical condition also determines the required penetration depth
for the therapeutic light. For example, the penetration depth can
be small for edema/swelling treatment since only the skin tissue
need to be treated. In this case, the laser wavelength shall be
selected to match with the absorption band of the skin tissue,
which can be estimated from the `Protocol` sub-menu as disclosed
above. Correspondingly, the power density and energy fluence of the
laser light shall be kept at relatively low levels to avoid tissue
damage. While for sprain/strain treatment, the penetration depth
should be large enough to reach those inner muscle tissues. In this
case, the laser wavelength shall be selected to match with the
absorption band of the muscle tissue while deviating from those
absorption bands of the skin tissue to avoid excessive power loss
in the skin tissue. In the meantime, the power density and energy
fluence of the laser light shall be relatively larger by
considering the absorption/scattering loss of the laser light in
the skin and coat of the animal. The laser parameters are also
affected by the body parts to be treated. For limb treatment, the
power density and penetration depth of the laser light can be small
since the skin is relatively thin for these body parts. In
comparison, higher power density and larger penetration depth are
required to treat the trunk of the body.
[0023] Under the `Protocol` sub-menu of FIG. 3 and the `3D Anatomy`
sub-menu of FIG. 4, the properties of the subject biological tissue
is defined by the user through those easily observable physical
characteristics such as weight, skin color, hair color, and body
part of the animal. In accordance to a summary of these properties
and the medical condition to be treated, the central control unit
of the phototherapy apparatus will automatically generate an
appropriate treatment protocol, which controls the laser
wavelength, power density, pulsing parameters, and duration time of
the phototherapy procedure. FIG. 5 shows an exemplary treatment
protocol displayed on the `Operation` sub-menu of the interactive
user interface. Here the laser wavelength (or the relative power
ratio between different laser wavelengths if multiple lasers are
used simultaneously) is determined by: (i) the medical condition to
be treated (hence the photochemical reaction to be produced); (ii)
the skin color of the animal, which affects the skin's absorption
spectrum; and (iii) the hair color of the animal to avoid excessive
laser power loss in the animal's coat. The required power density
and energy fluence (dose) for the laser light is determined by: (i)
the medical condition to be treated; (ii) the species and weight of
the animal, which influences its skin thickness, skin density, as
well as muscle and lipid content of the body, hence affecting the
penetration depth of the laser light; (iii) the body part to be
treated; and (iv) the skin color of the animal, which determines
its absorption coefficient for the laser light. Similarly, the
pulsing parameters of the laser are optimized according to: (i) the
medical condition to be treated; (ii) the species and weight of the
animal; (iii) the body part to be treated; and (iv) the skin color
of the animal. It is worth to note that the laser parameters can be
adjusted during the phototherapy procedure to achieve optimized
treatment results. As an additional feature, the whole treatment
protocol optimization process as disclosed above together with
those 2-D and 3-D graphics and animations may serve as an
educational tool for training the clinicians or practitioners in
phototherapy technology.
[0024] In the above disclosed procedure, the treatment protocol is
optimized primarily based on the medical condition to be treated
with certain adjustments of laser parameters based on the physical
characteristics of the animal. For each medical condition, the
optimum treatment protocol can be obtained from previous studies
and clinical trials and stored in a database in the central control
unit. Based on the user entered physical characteristics of the
animal, the central control unit can estimate the absorption and
scattering coefficient of the tissue and the penetration depth of
the laser light so as to adjust the laser parameters accordingly to
generate an optimum treatment protocol for the specific animal
target. This optimization process can be automatically completed by
the central control unit. Thus the clinician or practitioner does
not need to possess any comprehensive knowledge about photon-tissue
interaction. This feature allows the phototherapy apparatus to be
used even by amateur users such as pet owners for `take-home`
treatment. The central control unit can track the usage of the
phototherapy apparatus for medical record and billing purposes. For
advanced users, the `Operation` sub-menu also allows them to
manually control the laser parameters to create their own treatment
protocols. In a slight variation of the present embodiment, certain
laser parameters (e.g. laser wavelength, power density, energy
fluence, pulsing parameters) can be hidden away from the
`Operation` sub-menu as a protection of proprietary treatment
protocols.
[0025] In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention,
the interactive user interface further comprises a `Communication`
sub-menu for communicating with a remote server though a wireless
or wired communication network. The `Communication` sub-menu can be
used for performing update on treatment protocols, manuals,
educational illustrations and videos, etc. or for performing
additional functions such as on-line billing, track of patient
record, remote diagnosis of the patient, real-time monitoring of
the phototherapy unit, etc.
[0026] In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the
present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary
skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes
can be made without departing from the scope of the present
invention as set forth in the claims below. The numerical values
cited in the specific embodiment are illustrative rather than
limiting. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be
regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and
all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope
of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to
problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage,
or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be
construed as a critical, required, or essential features or
elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely
by the appended claims including any amendments made during the
pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as
issued.
* * * * *