Systems and methods for phototherapy control

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and uses of systems treating a skin condition with phototherapy. A system comprises (a) a phototherapy device comprising a phototherapy light source; (b) a patient computing device comprising a processor and a memory, the patient computing device configured to: transmit a first signal to the phototherapy device enabling operation of the phototherapy device according to one or more conditional prescription parameters, activate the phototherapy light source, and transmit a second signal reporting operation of the phototherapy device; and (c) a server configured to communicate with the patient computing device and receive the second signal. Also disclosed are systems, methods and compositions for controlling phototherapy treatments of the skin comprising (a) incorporating sun exposure into a prescribed phototherapy treatment; (b) quantitative measurement of erythema using digital image processing; (c) computer aided guidance for administration of targeted phototherapy; (d) treatment recommendations from outcome based analytics of a population of connected phototherapy devices; (e) an emollient with UV fading dye to visibly identify treated areas in the administration of targeted phototherapy.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method to estimate or measure therapeutic UV exposure to the sun to fulfill treatment needs or to supplement a prescribed phototherapy treatment comprising:
 a) measuring or estimating UV exposure received by an individual;   b) communicating UV exposure information to a computing device; and   c) comparing the UV exposure to the prescribed phototherapy treatment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the UV exposure is estimated based on a location and duration of sun exposure using the broadcasted UV index for the nearest location. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sun exposure is determined using a wearable sensor that calculates the duration and time of day of sun exposure. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sun exposure is determined by manually recording the start time and stop time on a computing device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the location is determined by a GPS system connected to a computing device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the therapeutic UV exposure is measured by a calibrated photo sensor in proximity to the treatment site during exposure. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising predicting sun exposure required to reach a therapeutic target using at least one of the following: UV index forecast, measured therapeutic radiation, time of day, time of year, location and results from previous sessions. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising utilizing the exposure information to provide therapeutic treatment records. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising reducing a prescribed dose of a UV phototherapy device based on UV exposure from sunlight. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the measured or estimated exposure with a scaling factor to account for differences from angle of incidence, shading, sunscreen, clothing coverage or other factors. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising monitoring the exposure information and communicating with the user using audio and/or visual information in order to ensure that the user does not exceed the target dose. 
     
     
         12 . A method to determine the erythema level of unaffected skin within a treatment area comprising:
 a) taking a photographic image of the treatment area and surrounding skin;   b) pre-processing the image to remove non-skin background areas;   c) identifying the treated and untreated regions, by using image processing techniques such as boundary shape identification;   d) computing the red color difference between skin on either side of the boundary; and   e) comparing the red color difference to threshold values to determine whether unaffected skin is normal, pink or red.   
     
     
         13 . A method to guide a targeted phototherapy treatment sequence comprising:
 a) communicating between a phototherapy device and a computing device to synchronize a phototherapy sequence plan to be administered;   b) communicating information from the phototherapy device to the computing device during treatment, providing current status of the treatment sequence using audio or visual cues;   c) communicating from the phototherapy device to the computing device when a treatment has been completed, or was interrupted; and   d) communicating the next treatment location to the administrator on the computing device using audio or visual cues.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the information communicated to the computing device includes current treatment location and time remaining on treatment. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the computing device is a mobile phone. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the phototherapy device communicates with the computing device wirelessly. 
     
     
         17 . A method to develop evidence-based treatment recommendations from a connected system of phototherapy devices comprising:
 a) collecting outcomes of phototherapy treatments from a plurality of patients using phototherapy devices on the connected system;   b) determining patient criteria of interest such as disease type, severity, age, skin type, years with disease, treatment area locations, geographical location, comorbidities, lifestyle, medical history;   c) determining treatment criteria of interest such as dose control method, treatment frequency, missed treatments, dose levels, treatment history, other medications;   d) correlating patient criteria and treatment criteria to positive outcomes and negative outcomes; and   e) providing evidence based recommendations on treatment plan adjustments for an individual based on correlation evidence.   
     
     
         18 . A composition for application to a region of a patient's skin including an area of a skin affected by a skin condition, in association with application of UV light to the affected area of skin for UV phototherapeutic treatment of the skin condition, the composition comprising:
 a) an emollient base for facilitating the absorbance of the applied UV light into the affected area of skin; and   b) a UV-fading dye, the UV-fading dye present in the composition in a concentration suitable for temporarily staining the patient's skin upon application of the composition to the patient's skin, and for fading upon exposure to the applied UV light, thereby indicating where the UV light has been applied to the patient's skin.   
     
     
         19 . The composition of  claim 18 , wherein the emollient base is mineral oil. 
     
     
         20 . The composition of  claim 18 , wherein the UV-fading dye is present in the composition in a concentration suitable for:
 a) temporarily staining the patient's skin upon application of the composition to the patient's skin;   b) fading upon exposure to the applied UV light, thereby indicating where the UV light has been applied to the patient's skin; and   c) fading upon exposure to ambient sunlight conditions.   
     
     
         21 . The composition of  claim 18 , wherein the skin condition is psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         22 . The composition of  claim 18 , having an index of refraction of approximately 1.55. 
     
     
         23 . The composition of  claim 20 , wherein the UV fading dye fades upon exposure to ambient sunlight conditions after at least 15 minutes of ambient indoor lighting, and wherein the UV fading dye would not fade under ambient indoor conditions during a treatment session, absent administration of phototherapy with a phototherapy device, and no more than 30 minutes of ambient outdoor direct sunlight, and wherein excess dye would fade under ambient outdoor conditions. 
     
     
         24 . The composition of  claim 20 , wherein the UV-fading dye is present in the composition in a concentration suitable for fading upon exposure to UV radiation equal to or less than a dose of UV radiation received during a first time period, for example a first 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, or 30 seconds of phototherapy treatment with a phototherapy device. 
     
     
         25 . A method of indicating whether a region of a patient's skin containing an area of skin affected by a skin condition has been exposed to UV light in association with UV phototherapy treatment, the method comprising:
 a) applying a composition to the region of the patient's skin, the composition comprising:
 i. an emollient having an index of refraction of approximately 1.55 for facilitating absorbance of UV light into the affected area of skin; and 
 ii. a UV-fading dye, the UV-fading dye present in the composition in an concentration suitable for temporarily staining the patient's skin upon application of the composition to the patient's skin, and for fading upon exposure to UV light; 
   b) administering UV light to the patient's skin affected by a skin condition in an amount suitable for providing a phototherapeutic effect to the affected skin; and   c) observing where on the region of the patient's skin the UV-fading dye has faded, thereby determining where the UV light has been administered to the patient's skin.