Abstract:
This invention discloses cryo-heating phototreatment devices and methods for cooling and heating objects in a very rapid timescale, from femtosecond to subsecond. The cryo-heating phototreatment device is a multiplex energy source comprising of an electromagnetic source and at least one of the members of the group of radiation sources: sonic, magnetic, electric, electroluminescent, up-converted luminescence, pressure and thermal. The electromagnetic source in the cryo-heating phototreatment device induces cooling of objects by up-converting energy luminescence and heating by absorption or interaction of electromagnetic radiation with objects. The invention also proposes a method of an enhancement of the up-converted energy cooling and heating processes by surface plasmon resonance of conducting nanostructures. The proposed devices and methods of very rapid cooling and heating can be applied in biomedical technologies and health care. The invention also includes applications of the disclosed herein method to up-conversion energy cooling of electronic components and photon detector devices.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/366,267 filed Feb. 14, 2003 entitled “Joint/Tissue Inflammation Therapy and Monitoring devices”, and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/656,529 filed Sep. 8, 2003 entitled “Optochemical Sensing with Multiband Fluorescence Enhanced by Surface Plasmon Resonance”, each of which is incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
       [0002]     There is NO claim for federal support in research or development of this product.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     This invention is related to rapid cooling and heating devices and method of the use of them in biotechnology, medicine and in human and animal therapy.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     There is a great need for methods and devices that can perform cooling and heating on a very rapid (subsecond) scale. Such rapid thermocycling techniques would find application, for example, in polymerase chain reactions (PCR) for fast amplification of genetic materials. Current PCR devices and methods require several hours to obtain enough amplified genetic materials for further analysis. In an age of terrorist threats involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and/or the need for rapid medical responses in a variety of scenarios, biochemical information is often required in minutes or even seconds.  
         [0005]     The heating of objects can be performed very quickly by electromagnetic radiation and other thermal means. However, cooling objects to the ambient temperature or below the ambient temperature requires more time. Common cooling sources used for cooling objects are thermoelectrical devices based on the Peltier effect. These devices are not energy-efficient and cooling of objects is often much slower than is optimal. Another great need, particularly in the PCR technique, is non-contact heating and/or non-contact cooling. Non-contact heating of objects can be performed relatively easily and fast by electromagnetic radiation, for example, but there is not yet a very efficient way of cooling objects using non-contact means. The pressure air-cooling technique is currently one of the solutions for non-contact cooling, but this technique is still not fast enough and not convenient to use.  
         [0006]     Another great need for fast cooling and heating is in therapeutic devices, like acupuncture devices or other therapeutical devices that bioactively treat the body. Nerve reactions and many other physiological processes occur on the subsecond scale and therapeutic devices with thermocycling rates within this time scale would have great therapeutic value. Sports medicine also needs cooling-heating devices which can be worn over the injury site to shorten the time of healing.  
         [0007]     There is also a great need for new techniques for cooling the backs of high-performance integrated circuits (ICs) which could allow denser packaging of chips while providing better temperature control and improved reliability. As the power density of high-performance integrated circuits increases, cooling the devices has become a more significant concern. Conventional cooling techniques, which depend on heat sinks on the backs of ICs to transfer heat into streams of forced air, will be unable to meet the needs of future power-hungry devices—especially 3D multi-chip modules that will pack more processing power into less space.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     This invention discloses cryo-heating phototreatment devices and methods for cooling and heating of objects on a very rapid scale. The cryo-heating phototreatment device is a multiplex energy source comprising of an electromagnetic source and at least one of the members of the group of radiation sources: sonic, magnetic, electric, electroluminescent, luminescence, pressure, and thermal. The electromagnetic source in the cryo-heating phototreatment device induces cooling and heating processes. Cooling of objects is accomplished by up-conversion of excitation energy in an up-converting energy medium that is associated with luminescence. The up-converting energy medium is placed nearby or in direct contact with objects, and in the process of up-conversion energy, the medium takes heat from objects and cools down objects. The processes of up-conversion energy and luminescence could take place in a very short time scale from femtoseconds to sub-seconds, therefore the cooling process associated with up-conversion energy also occurs in the same short time scale. Heating of objects is related to direct interaction of excitation energy and/or luminescence with objects. The proposed cryo-heating device provides very rapid cooling and heating that is very much needed in biotechnology and health care and electronics.  
         [0009]     The invention also proposes a method for the enhancement of up-conversion cooling and/or heating processes by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of conducting nanostructures. For the enhancement, the nanostructures will be placed near the up-converting substances.  
         [0010]     The invention also considers the use of plurality wavelengths from the electromagnetic sources for cooling and heating.  
         [0011]     In some applications, the primary electromagnetic energy source of cooling and heating may require the support of other energy sources provided by the other members of the multiplex energy source.  
         [0012]     The cryo-heating phototreatment device is proposed to be used in biotechnology, therapy of humans and animals, and other areas where fast thermocycling is needed. The therapy of human and animal can be applied internally or externally and can be used for reducing pain, inflammation, and edema of joints, muscles, and nerves. The cryo-heating therapy can be applied in wound healing, injury healing, reducing thrombosis, skin treatment, cosmetic treatment, and other medical applications.  
         [0013]     The invention also includes applications of the disclosed herein method to up-conversion energy cooling of electronic components and photon detector devices. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1 . A head of a cryo-heating phototreatment device  
         [0015]      FIG. 2 . A head of a cryo-heating phototreatment device with non-contact heating and cooling capabilities  
         [0016]      FIG. 3 . A head of a cryo-heating phototreatment device with conducting nanostructures placed in the medium as colloidal suspension  
         [0017]      FIG. 4 . A head of a cryo-heating phototreatment device with conducting nanostructures attached to inner walls of a housing  
         [0018]      FIG. 5 . An elastic bandage with an array of LEDs and with supporting thermal energy source for cooling and heating  
         [0019]      FIG. 6 . An elastic bandage with an array of laser diodes and with supporting thermal energy source for cooling and heating  
         [0020]      FIG. 7 . A hand-held cryo-heating phototreatment device  
         [0021]      FIG. 8 . A catheter as a cryo-heating phototreatment device  
         [0022]      FIG. 9 . An endoscope as a cryo-heating phototreatment device  
         [0023]      FIG. 10 . An up-conversion cooling of an IC processor  
         [0024]      FIG. 11 . An up-conversion cooling of a photodetector to reduce a photodetector thermal noise 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]     Although the following detailed description contains many specifics for the purposes of illustration, anyone of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to the following details are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following embodiments of the invention are set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the claimed invention.  
         [0026]     This invention discloses novel cryo-heating phototreatment devices and methods for cooling and/or heating objects in a very rapid timescale, from femtoseconds to sub-seconds. The timescale of cooling and heating processes depends mainly on the rates of absorption of light and up-conversion energy luminescence of up-converting energy substances, and the rates can be from femtoseconds to subseconds for up-converting energy organic dyes and up-converting energy phosphors, respectively. The selection of up-converting energy substances in the proposed cryo-heating phototreatment device depends on application, and the invention includes all up-converting energy substances. The invention also includes cryo-heating phototreatment devices and methods with cooling and heating processes in timescales of seconds to hours, if these processes will be performed with the up-conversion energy method that is disclosed herein.  
         [0027]     An example of the head of a cryo-heating phototreatment device is shown in  FIG. 1 . The head is comprised of an electromagnetic radiation source  100  with an up-converting energy medium  101  and housing  102 . The light from the electromagnetic radiation source  100  illuminates the medium  101  and/or a cooled-heated object  111 . The medium would be excited by this light and would emit luminescence if heat energy from the medium and surrounding environments will contribute to the energy of light. Therefore, luminescence of the medium is associated with a cooling process of the medium and surrounding environments. Luminescence from the medium can participate in the phototreatment of objects. Objects can also be placed in the medium  101  ( FIG. 2   a ) or in a buffer  120  and inner walls of housing  102  will be coated with up-converting medium  101  ( FIG. 2   b ), which allows on non-contact heating and cooling the object  111  by electromagnetic radiation. The invention considers the cooling and heating of objects at the same time or at different times. In the latter case, cooling and heating can be performed in a wave cycle, often called “thermocycle”. A wave cycle rate can be selected from a femtosecond to hours. However, some applications may benefit when cooling and heating are performed simultaneously. As it is known, the rate of cooling by conduction is lower than the rate of electromagnetic heating. Therefore, simultaneous use of both processes can generate a gradient temperature in the object, which may have therapeutical values.  
         [0028]     The invention considers the use of the same wavelength or different wavelengths for cooling and heating. The latter option provides better flexibility in designing phototreatment. For example, in the PCR application, it is important to select wavelengths of light for the best heating and cooling that corresponds to the highest absorption coefficients of water and the up-converting energy substance, respectively. Anyone skilled in the art would appreciate the use of conducting nanostructures to enhance cooling and heating processes in the up-converting energy medium. The nanostructures may play a multiple role in this enhancement. They will increase the luminescence quantum yield of up-converting substances and they will very effectively conduct heat to up-converting substances, which in both cases leads to enhanced cooling and/or heating of objects. The nanostructures  104  can be placed in the medium  101  as colloidal suspension ( FIG. 3 ) or can be attached to the inner walls of housing  102  ( FIG. 4 ).  
         [0029]     The nanostructures can also be coated with dielectric or other materials to eliminate luminescence quenching of up-converting energy substances.  
         [0030]     The cooling and heating processes induced by electromagnetic radiation in the proposed cryo-heating phototreatment device can be supported by at least one additional energy source selected from the group of sonic, magnetic, electric, electroluminescent, microwave, luminescence, pressure, and thermal. Use of these supporting sources depends on applications. For example, cooling and heating of microliter or smaller volume objects can be performed with the electromagnetic source, but objects of larger volumes may need the support of other energy sources for cooling and heating, particularly if there is a requirement for rapid thermocycling. The supporting energy sources can be designed for specific applications, such as, for example, the sonic or microwave energy sources can be designed as focused energy sources that deliver its energy to the same location as electromagnetic radiation.  
         [0031]     The electromagnetic radiation source and the supporting sources can be used as linear or nonlinear energy sources. Nonlinearity of the energy sources may provide three-dimensional resolution capabilities for cooling and heating of objects.  
         [0032]     The proposed cryo-heating phototreatment device can be designed as a stand-alone device or a portable device. Exemplary designs of the portable devices are shown in  FIGS. 5-9 .  FIGS. 5 and 6  show an elastic bandage in which the electromagnetic source  100  is an array of LEDs or an array of laser diodes and the supporting thermal energy source for cooling  107  and heating  108 . The up-converting medium  101  is assembled together with the electromagnetic source  100  ( FIG. 5 ) or is a thin film  103  placed on a top the electromagnetic source  100  ( FIG. 6 ). Depending upon application, the other supporting energy sources can be implemented into this elastic bandage device or to other cryo-heating phototreatment devices. The bandage is designed to be worn on any part of the human or animal body.  
         [0033]      FIG. 7  shows a hand-held cryo-heating phototreatment device. The device can be applied internally or externally to any part of the body including nerve sites. A catheter and endoscope as the cryo-heating phototreatment devices are shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , respectively. These devices will be used internally for phototreatment, detection, and manipulation of biomaterials, such as proteins, DNA, cells, tissue, and body fluids. The capabilities of cooling and heating internal biomaterials with the proposed device will open new areas of applications, for example, the biostimulation of cells by thermocycling, amplification of genetic material in vivo and in vitro, freezing biomaterials in vivo and in vitro, surgery with instantaneous cooling of the surgery site to minimize inflammation or bleeding.  
         [0034]     Another embodiment of the invention is related to sensory feedback  110  that is incorporated into the cryo-thermal devices. The sensory feedback may monitor in real-time biometrics of the cooled and/or heated objects and inform a central unit  109  of the device about the phototreatment. The central unit  109  may process this information and change parameters of the device or a phototreatment program to optimize phototreatment. The central unit can be preprogrammed and a medical doctor, technician, or patient may select a specific program for the treatment. The doctor, technician, or patient can also remotely control the device. The feedback may also serve as a real-time controller of the device performance. The sensory feedback  110  may comprise different types of sensors for measuring biochemical and physical parameters of the cooled or heated objects. The sensors may also include imaging sensors to provide images of the treated objects. The cryo-heat phototreatment devices comprise of major components: a multiplex energy source  112  assembled on substrate  113 , a drive circuit in electrical connection  114  with multiplex energy source  112 , programmable electronics  113 , said sensory feedback  110 , a communication unit  115  and power supply  116  with on/off switch  117 , and a custom-designed software and computer  118 .  
         [0035]     One of the embodiments of this invention proposes to apply the cryo-heating phototreatment device to phototherapy of humans and animals. The cryo-heating therapy can be used internally or externally to the body for reducing pain, inflammation, edema of joints, muscles and nerves. The cryo-heating therapy can be also applied to wound healing, reducing thrombosis, skin treatment, acupuncture therapy, cosmetic treatment, sport injury, and other medical applications.  
         [0036]     Anyone skilled in the art will appreciate the use of the cryo-heating phototreatment device with the pulsed/modulated radiation sources. The proposed device benefits from a broadband range of frequencies that allows better designing of the device for a variety of applications. For example, the electromagnetic radiation pulsing or modulating at THz frequencies will very effectively deposit thermal energy within the object. Therefore, at these high frequencies, there would not be a necessity for the matching of absorption properties of the object with wavelengths of light. In common cases of the use of pulsed/modulated energy sources at lower frequencies where emitted wavelengths or energies of the device are matched with absorption energy properties of the object, the object benefits more from the absorption of pulsed/modulated radiation energies than from CW energies, particularly if the object is a living body. The pulsed/modulated radiation sources are also more compact than CW sources, and can be used in cryo-heating portable devices, such as an elastic bandage device, hand-held device, but not limited to them. Regarding pulse duration in the cryo-heating devices, the invention considers pulses generated by the energy sources within a range of the pulse duration from femtoseconds to seconds. This widespread range of the pulse durations is dictated by up-converting substances. For example, femtosecond to nanosecond pulses are preferable for cooling processes with up-converting energy organic dyes, and subseconds to seconds pulses are preferable for cooling processes with up-converting energy phosphors and rare earth elements.  
         [0037]     Another embodiment of the invention is related to cooling electronic components with up-conversion energy processes. For example, as is shown in  FIG. 10 , the back of an IC processor  122  may have an additional layer of up-converting medium  101  that under electromagnetic excitation will luminesce and cool down the IC processor. The process of up-conversion energy cooling of the IC chip can be very effective, because of excessive heat generated by the IC chip. The up-conversion energy cooling processes can also be applied to photon detector technology. The photosensitive elements  123  in the photodetector  124  can be coated with up-converting medium  101  and under electromagnetic illumination ( FIG. 11 ), the up-converting substances will generate photons and at the same time will cool the photosensitive elements. This leads to the reduction of thermal noise of the photodetector. This effect will be more pronounced in the detectors with relatively small photosensitive elements, such as micro-channel plates, nano-channel plates, pin diodes, 2D array detectors: CCD, CMOS. In the proposed method, it is also possible to use wavelengths insensitive to the photodetector for the up-conversion energy cooling which would allow for no interference in the functioning of the photodetector for different wavelengths. This way the range of spectral sensitivity of the detector can be extend. The photodetector can be selected from the group consisting of: photomultiplier, photodiode, micro-channel plate, nano-channel plate, CCD chip, CMOS chip and other photosensitive electronics.