Cosmetic skin rejuvenation

Abstract

A cosmetic method for treating a skin of a person is presented, the method comprises inserting one or more needles to one or more depths into the skin of the person such that at least a tip of at least one needle of the one or more needles is deployed within a muscle layer of the person's skin; applying a negative DC voltage to the one or more needles, while a skin of the person is in contact with a positive electrode to form one or more closed circuits of DC current through the person's body; and providing the DC current for a pre-selected amount of time to damage and/or ablate muscles and/or muscle nerve cells in the muscle layer; thereby providing a skin treatment comprising reducing and/or smoothing wrinkles from the person's skin.

1 . A cosmetic method for treating a patient's tissue, comprising:
 providing an array of needle electrodes;   providing a needle electrode positioning motor configured and operable to deploy one or more of the needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes to one or more depths into the patient's tissue;   deploying, using the needle electrode positioning motor, the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes into the patient's tissue;   providing a radio frequency (RF) energy source coupled to the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes; and   applying, using the radio frequency (RF) energy source, radio frequency (RF) energy having a preselected value for a preselected period of time, the preselected value and period of time being configured to cause selective treatment of cells surrounding the one or more needle electrodes in the patient's tissue.   
     
     
         2 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , further including the steps of:
 deploying one or more of the needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes to selected depths into the patient's tissue such that at least the tip of one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes is deployed within one of the: (1) muscle layer of the patient, (2) subcutaneous layer of the patient's skin tissue or (3) the collagen fiber region of the patient's skin tissue;   and wherein: (1) a treatment of damaging and/or ablating muscles in the muscle layer occurs when one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes is deployed in the muscle layer, (2) a treatment of damaging and/or ablating fat cells in the subcutaneous layer occurs when one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes is deployed in the subcutaneous layer, or (3) a treatment of damaging and/or ablating collagen fibers occurs when one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes is deployed in the collogen fiber region of the patient's skin tissue.   
     
     
         3 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , wherein the patient's tissue comprises face skin and/or forehead of the patient. 
     
     
         4 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes are partially insulated leaving only the tips of the one or more needle electrodes non-insulated. 
     
     
         5 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , wherein the RF energy is in the range of 0.5 to 40 Mhz. 
     
     
         6 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of removing, using the needle electrode positioning motor, the one or more deployed needle electrodes from the patient's tissue when the treating of the tissue has been completed. 
     
     
         7 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining the one or more depths of the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes deployed into the patient's tissue, by measuring tissue resistance with tips of the one or more deployed needle electrodes. 
     
     
         8 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining the kind of the tissue into which tips of the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes are deployed by measuring tissue resistance with tips of the one or more deployed needle electrodes. 
     
     
         9 . A device for treating a patient's tissue, comprising:
 an array of needle electrodes;   a needle electrode positioning motor configured and operable to deploy one or more of the needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes to one or more depths into the patient's tissue;   deploying, using the needle electrode positioning motor, the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes into the patient's tissue;   providing a radio frequency (RF) energy source coupled to the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes; and   at least one controller in communication with the needle electrode positioning motor and the radio frequency (RF) energy source, configured and operable to:   activate the needle positioning motor to deploy the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes into the patient's tissue, and   activate the radio frequency (RF) energy source to apply radio frequency (RF) energy having a preselected value for a preselected period of time, the preselected value and period of time being configured to cause selective treatment of cells surrounding the one or more needle electrodes in the patient's tissue.   
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein said controller is further configured and operable to:
 activate the needle electrode positioning motor to deploy one or more of the needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes to selected depths into the patient's tissue such that at least the tip of one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes is deployed within one of the: (1) muscle layer of the patient, (2) subcutaneous layer of the patient's skin tissue or (3) the collagen fiber region of the patient's skin tissue; and   activate the radio frequency (RF) energy source to respectively apply: (1) a treatment of damaging and/or ablating muscles in the muscle layer when one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes is deployed in the muscle layer, (2) a treatment of damaging and/or ablating fat cells in the subcutaneous layer when one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes is deployed in the subcutaneous layer, or (3) a treatment of damaging and/or ablating collagen fibers when one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes is deployed in the collogen fiber region of the patient's skin tissue.   
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 9 , configured and operable to apply the treatment to the patient's tissue comprising face skin and/or forehead of the patient. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein one or more needle electrodes of the array of needle electrodes are partially insulated leaving only the tips of the one or more needle electrodes non-insulated. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the radio frequency (RF) energy source is configured to apply the RF energy in the range of 0.5 to 40 Mhz. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured and operable to activate the needle electrode positioning motor for removing the one or more deployed needle electrodes from the patient's tissue when the treating of the tissue has been completed. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured and operable to determine the one or more depths of the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes deployed into the patient's tissue based on tissue resistance measurements received through tips of the one or more deployed needle electrodes. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured and operable to determine the kind of tissue into which tips of the one or more needle electrodes in the array of needle electrodes are deployed based on tissue resistance measurements received through the one or more deployed needle electrodes. 
     
     
         17 . A cosmetic method for treating a patient's skin tissue, comprising:
 providing an array of elongated members;   providing an elongated member positioning motor coupled to the array of elongated members, the elongated member positioning motor being operable to deploy one or more of the elongated members in the array of elongated members to selected depths into the patient's skin tissue;   deploying, using the elongated member positioning motor, the one or more elongated members in the array of elongated members into the patient's skin tissue;   providing a radio frequency (RF) energy source coupled to the one or more elongated members in the array of elongated members;   applying radio frequency (RF) energy source having preselected values for a preselected period of time, the preselected value and period of time being configured to cause selective treatment of cells surrounding the one or more elongated members in the patient's skin tissue; and,   withdrawing, using the elongated member positioning motor, the one or more elongated members from the patient's skin tissue when the treating of the skin tissue has been completed.   
     
     
         18 . The cosmetic method of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more elongated members in the array of elongated members are one of: fully uninsulated or partially uninsulated. 
     
     
         19 . The cosmetic method of  claim 17 , wherein one or more elongated members of the array of elongated members are partially insulated and the tips of the one or more elongated members are not insulated. 
     
     
         20 . The cosmetic method of  claim 17 , further including the steps of:
 deploying one or more of the elongated members in the array of elongated members to selected depths into the patient's skin tissue such that at least the tip of one or more elongated members in the array of elongated members is deployed within one of the: (1) muscle layer of the patient's skin tissue, (2) the subcutaneous layer of the patient's skin tissue or (3) the collagen fiber region of the patient's skin tissue;   and wherein: (1) a skin treatment of damaging and/or ablating muscles in the muscle layer occurs when one or more elongated members of the array of elongated members is deployed in the muscle layer, (2) a skin treatment of damaging and/or ablating fat cells in the subcutaneous layer occurs when one or more elongated members of the array of elongated members is deployed in the subcutaneous layer, or (3) a skin treatment of damaging and/or ablating collagen fibers occurs when one or more elongated members of the array of elongated members is deployed in the collogen fiber region of the patient's skin tissue.   
     
     
         21 . The cosmetic method of  claim 17 , wherein the patient's skin tissue comprises face skin and/or the forehead of the patient. 
     
     
         22 . The cosmetic method of  claim 17 , further including the step of measuring the depth of the one or more elongated members in the array of elongated members depth into the patient's skin tissue. 
     
     
         23 . The cosmetic method of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more elongated members in the array of elongated members comprise one or more needles. 
     
     
         24 . The cosmetic method of  claim 1 , further comprising supplying one or more substances into the skin through a hollow conduit formed in one or more of the array or needles.