Field of the Invention

[0001 ] This invention relates generally to dermal therapy, and, more particularly, a headset for ocular dermal therapy.

Background of the Invention

[0002] Dark circles under the lower eyelids are common in both men and women. Dark circles can enhance the appearance of ageing and are difficult to treat.

[0003] Dark circles may generally appear purple or blue to dark brown or black depending on skin colour and which may be caused by restricted blood vessels, hyperpigmentation, thinning of the skin around the eyes and the like.

[0004] There are various known causes for dark circles, including lack of sleep or poor sleeping habits, allergies (including hay fever), hyperpigmentation (which occurs when the body produces excess melanin), reduced fatty tissue levels around the eyes, thinning of the skin under the eyes, anaemia from iron deficiency, over exposure to sunlight, frequent rubbing of the eyes, age, smoking inherited genes, thyroid conditions, dehydration dermatitis and or the like.

[0005] Whereas these dark circles are rarely of cause for concern, reduction of the appearance thereof is desirous for cosmetic reasons.

[0006] The present invention seeks to provide a way to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art, or to at least provide an alternative.

[0007] It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

Summary of the Disclosure

[0008] There is provided herein a headset for ocular dermal therapy which may be used for one or more of reducing dark eye circles, rejuvenating eyelid skin, boosting micro circulation, rehydration or treatment of dry eyes, enhancing transdermal eye serum adsorption, reduction of allergy related skin conditions around the islands, improving skin tone, eye muscle relaxation and stress relief.

[0009] The headset may comprise a housing held to the head by a headband. The headset may comprise a pair of periorbital contact eye pads. The pads are controlled by a controller to administer ocular dermal therapy to the skin of the eyelids and surrounding the eye.

[0010] The headset is worn such that the pads contact the eyes and surrounding tissue. Therapy controlled by the controller may last approximately 20 minutes and the headset may comprise sufficient rechargeable battery power supply for two hours of operation.

[001 1 ] The pads may comprise flexible bodies having transverse plane curvature to fit and conform around the eyes.

[0012] Motion actuators may massage the pads over the eyes. The motion actuators may move or rotate the pads in opposite directions to minimise applied force to the housing. The left pad from the perspective of the wearer may rotate clockwise and the right pad may rotate oppositely anti-clockwise to push retained fluid away towards the infraorbital lymph nodes. The headset may comprise rotary to linear gearing which may be controlled by the controller to move the pads.

[0013] The pads may comprise electroporation contacts which apply an electric field to increase the permeability of skin cell membranes thereunderneath to enhance eye serum absorption applied either to the pads or directly to the skin.

[0014] The pads may comprise vibratory devices which may vibrate at frequencies in excess of 20 kHz to enhance microcirculation.

[0015] The pads may comprise thermal devices to apply heat up to but less than approximately 44°C to enhance vasodilation and collagen stimulation.

[0016] The pads may comprise light sources to apply light including red light for boosting microcirculation and collagen remodelling, green light to even out skin tone and suppress melanin production, yellow light to lighten the skin and blue light to soothe and reduce skin sensitivity and inflammation. [0017] The headset may conceal stereo speakers therein which may play music, including streamed from a connected Bluetooth device, during therapy.

[0018] The headset may comprise a hygienic and washable IPX6 housing and may be controllable by a touchscreen user interface.

[0019] The controller may store one or more therapy programs and/or user specific and/or user configurable settings which may control the timing and/or operation of at the electroporation contacts, thermal contacts, motion actuators, vibratory devices and/or light sources. Therapy programs may comprise various stages wherein, for example, a therapy program may commence with a first stage of boosting microcirculation wherein the controller controls the thermal devices to apply heat and the light source to apply red light and a further stage of reducing sensitivity wherein the controller controls the thermal devices not to apply heat and the light source to apply blue light.

[0020] The present headset applies ocular dermal therapy in a safe non-invasive pain- free manner.

[0021 ] Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022] Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0023] Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a headset being worn for ocular dermal therapy;

[0024] Figure 2 shows a further perspective view of the headset;

[0025] Figure 3 shows a top plan view of the headset;

[0026] Figure 4 shows a rear perspective view of the headset; and

[0027] Figure 5 shows a functional control schematic of the headset in accordance an embodiment. Description of Embodiments

[0028] A headset 100 comprises a pair of periorbital contact eye pads 102. The headset 100 further comprises a controller 101 to control the pads 102 to administer ocular dermal therapy.

[0029] The controller 101 may comprise a processor 103 for processing digital data. The controller 101 may further comprise a memory device 104 for storing digital information including digital data 105 and computer program code instructions. The computer program code instructions may be logically divided into a plurality of computer program code instruction controllers 106. In use, the processor 103 fetches these computer program code instructions and associated data 105 from the memory device 104 via a system bus 107 for interpretation and execution of the functionality described herein.

[0030] With reference to Figure 3, the headset 100 may comprise a housing 108 and a rearward head attachment which may take the form of a length adjustable strap 109. The housing 108 may contain the controller 101 and a power source 1 10 which may take the form of a rechargeable battery. The pads 102 may extend rearwardly from the housing 108. The housing 108 may a gap between the pads 102 to allow for the bridge of the nose.

[0031 ] The pads 102 may comprise a flexible body 1 1 1 such as a silicon, rubber or the like to allow a rearward contact surface thereof to conform to the contours of the face of the wearer. Each pad 102 may be pivotally mounted to the housing 108 so as to be able to assume orientations conforming to the contours of the face of the wearer. [0032] As is evident from Figure 3, the body 1 1 1 may have a transverse plane curvature.

[0033] The rearward application surfaces of the pads 102 is sufficient to cover the eyes and the periorbital dermis. With reference to Figure 4, the rearward application surface of each pad 102 may be generally laterally elongate.

[0034] With reference to Figure 5, the controller 101 may comprise an I/O interface 1 12 for interfacing with various peripherals. [0035] The headset 100 may comprise a motion actuator 1 13 for each pad 102. Each motion actuator 1 13 is configured to move each respective pad 102 relative to the housing 108. The motion actuator 1 13 may comprise rotary to linear gearing driven by a DC motor to move the pad 102 linearly. Additionally, alternatively, the motion actuators 130 may rotate the pads 102.

[0036] In embodiments, the controller 101 may control the motion actuators 1 13 to move or rotate the pads 102 in opposite directions. For example, with reference to Figure 4, the pads 102 may be moved by their respective motion actuators 1 13 in opposite directions left to right thereby massaging each eye whilst minimising resultant forces on the housing 108.

[0037] Additionally, or alternatively, the motion actuators 1 13 may rotate the pads 102 in opposite directions. With reference to the orientation of Figure 4, the left pad 102 may rotate clockwise and the right pad may rotate oppositely anti-clockwise, to push retained fluid away towards the infraorbital lymph nodes.

[0038] The pads 102 may comprise exposed electroporation contacts 1 14 controlled by the controller 101 to apply an electric field to increase the permeability of the skin cell membranes thereunderneath. Eye serum may be applied to the pads 102 or to the eyes directly wherein the electroporation contacts 1 14 apply an electric field to increase the permeability of the skin cell membranes to more effectively absorb the eye serum.

[0039] As can be seen from Figure 4, the electroporation contacts 1 14 may be generally concentrically arranged around the periphery of each pad 102.

[0040] The pads 102 may further comprise thermal devices to heat the skin thereunderneath. The thermal device may comprise a thermal contact 1 15. The thermal contact 1 15 may be heat conductive, such as being metallic, and may heat the skin by conduction. In alternative embodiments, the thermal contacts 1 15 may heat the skin by radiofrequency heating.

[0041 ] The thermal devices may be controlled by the controller 101 to apply heat up to but less than approximately 44°C. In this regard, each eye pad 102 may comprise a thermometer therein measuring heat via the contact surface area of the pad 102. As such, the controller 101 may apply heat via the thermal contacts depending on temperature measured by the thermometer. The thermal contacts 1 15 of each pad 102 may be generally concentrically arranged.

[0042] The pads 102 may further comprise a vibratory device 1 16 controlled by the controller 101. The vibratory device 1 16 may vibrate each pad 102 individually. In this regard, a vibratory device 1 16 may locate within the body of each pad 102. In embodiments, the vibratory device 1 16 comprises a micro motor turning an eccentric flywheel. In alternative embodiments, the vibratory device 1 16 is piezoelectric. The vibratory device 1 16 may operate at frequencies in excess of 20 Hz.

[0043] The pads 102 may further comprise a light source 1 17 controlled by the controller 101. The light source 1 17 may comprise different types of LEDs to apply light at different frequencies, including red, yellow, green and blue frequencies.

[0044] With reference to Figure 4, the light source 1 17 may be a generally circular band of LEDs. The light source 1 17 may concentrically withing the electroporation contacts 1 14 and the thermal contact 1 15.

[0045] The headset 100 may comprise speakers 1 19 for playing of music during therapy. With reference to Figure 4, the housing 108 may comprise a pair of stereo speakers 1 19 behind grilles through a rear surface thereof. The controller 101 may comprise a data interface 120. In embodiments, the headset 100 may play music stream via the data interface 120 wherein, for example, the data interface 120 may be a Bluetooth data interface.

[0046] The headset 100 may comprise a user interface 1 18. With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the housing 108 may comprise the user interface 1 18 on a front surface thereof. User interface 1 18 may comprise physical and/or capacitive sensing buttons and/or digital displays. In the embodiments shown, the interface 1 18 comprises a music control button 121 and a power button 122. The interface 1 18 may further comprise a digital display 123 which may display the therapy program, therapy duration, therapy remaining time, operational settings and/or the like.

[0047] The data 105 may comprise one or more therapy programs and/or user specific and/or user configurable settings which may control the timing and/or operation of any one of the electroporation contacts 1 14, thermal contacts 1 15, motion actuators 1 13, vibratory devices 1 16 and light sources 1 17.

[0048] In embodiments, these therapy programs and/or settings may be selected and/or configured via a mobile phone device in operable communication with the controller 101 via the data interface 120.

[0049] In embodiments, the controller 101 may control the administration of a therapy program according to sensor feedback for example. For example, the controller 101 may monitor the thermometer to ensure a temperature setpoint has been reached prior to commencing the next stage of the therapy program.

[0050] The controller 101 may control the light source 1 17 depending on the type of therapy being administered. For example, therapy programs may be provided for applying light including red light for boosting microcirculation and collagen remodelling, green light to even out skin tone and suppress melanin production, yellow light to lighten the skin and blue light to soothe and reduce skin sensitivity and inflammation.

[0051 ] The controller 101 may control components of the pads 102 sequentially according to the various stages of the therapy program. For example, the controller 101 may control the light source 1 17 to apply different colours of light at various stages of a therapy program wherein, for example, a therapy program may commence with red light for boosting microcirculation and end with blue light for soothing and reducing skin sensitivity.

[0052] The controller 101 may control at least one of the light sources 1 17, electroporation contacts 1 14 and thermal contacts 1 15 synchronously. For example, when boosting microcirculation and collagen remodelling, the controller 101 may control the thermal contacts 1 15 to apply heat and red light whereas, when reducing skin sensitivity and inflammation, the controller 101 may control the thermal contacts 1 15 do not apply heat and to control the light sources 1 17 to apply blue light.

[0053] The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specific details are not required in order to practise the invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed as obviously many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the following claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention.

[0054] The term “approximately” or similar as used herein should be construed as being within 10% of the value stated unless otherwise indicated.