Treatment apparatus

Abstract

A treatment apparatus for treating a skin lesion on skin of a patient, the apparatus comprising a source of electromagnetic radiation (16), a guide (6, 20) to guide the electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion (25) and a control apparatus (1), the control apparatus (1) being arranged so as to cause the source (16) and the guide (6, 20) to: provide an initial burst of electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion (25) to heat it to a first temperature selected by the control apparatus (1); cease providing electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion (25) for a period; and provide a further burst of electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion (25) so as to maintain the temperature of the skin lesion within a temperature range selected by the control apparatus (1). The apparatus may comprise a temperature sensor (24) which detects the temperature of the patient’s skin, typically the skin lesion.

1 . A treatment apparatus for treating a skin lesion on skin of a patient, the apparatus comprising a source of electromagnetic radiation, a guide to guide the electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion and a control apparatus, the control apparatus being arranged so as to cause the source and the guide to:
 a) provide an initial burst of electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion to heat it to a first temperature selected by the control apparatus;   b) cease providing electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion for a period; and   c) provide a further burst of electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion so as to maintain the temperature of the skin lesion within a temperature range selected by the control apparatus; 
 in which the period is at least 1 second and the source of electromagnetic radiation comprises a laser. 
     
     
         2 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the first temperature is at least 45, 50 or 55 degrees centigrade, and at most 57, 59, or 60 degrees centigrade. 
     
     
         3 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the temperature range has lower and upper bounds; the lower bound being between 50 and 57 degrees centigrade, or between 53 and 56 degrees, or 55 degrees ± 1 degree centigrade; the upper bound being between 58 and 61 degrees, typically 60 degrees ± 1 degree centigrade. 
     
     
         4 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1  in which the period is between 1 and 30 seconds, typically 15 and 20 seconds. 
     
     
         5 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the control apparatus is arranged to repeat steps b and c at least once, and preferably a plurality of times. 
     
     
         6 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the initial burst comprises a series of a plurality of pulses. 
     
     
         7 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the guide comprises a beam steering apparatus to direct the initial and/or further bursts over the patient’s skin. 
     
     
         8 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising a source of a visible light aiming beam, to help the user position the initial and further bursts on the skin lesion. 
     
     
         9 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the control apparatus is arranged so as to be configured by the user to control the guide to deliver a series of pulses over a target area so that heat energy is delivered uniformly over the target area and not outside it. 
     
     
         10 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising a temperature sensor which detects the temperature of the patient’s skin, typically the skin lesion. 
     
     
         11 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 10 , in which the control apparatus is arranged to calibrate the skin response to treatment by causing the source of electromagnetic radiation to deliver a calibration burst which is smaller than required to reach the first temperature, and to measure, using the temperature sensor, the resulting temperature increase and rate of cooling. 
     
     
         12 . The treatment apparatus of  claim 11 , in which the control unit is arranged to so as to determine at least one of a fluence of the initial and further bursts and the period based upon the temperature increase and the rate of cooling. 
     
     
         13 . A method of treating a skin lesion on skin of a patient, the method comprising:
 a) using a laser to provide an initial burst of electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion to heat it to a predetermined first temperature;   b) ceasing providing electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion for a period of at least 1 second; and   c) providing a further burst of electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion so as to maintain the temperature of the skin lesion within a predetermined temperature range.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , comprising using a treatment apparatus for the method of treating a skin lesion on skin of a patient, the apparatus comprising a source of electromagnetic radiation, a guide to guide the electromagnetic radiation to the skin lesion and a control apparatus, the control apparatus being arranged so as to cause the source and the guide to carry out steps a) - c), wherein the predetermined first temperature and the predetermined temperature range are selected by the control apparatus.