Patent ID: 7981080

Claim:
Skin cooling apparatus for use with a hypodermic syringe that interacts with a target area of a patient's skin surface for selective, localized cooling of the target area, the hypodermic syringe having a barrel and a needle attached to the barrel, the skin cooling apparatus comprising: a flexible, tubular support body engaging at least a portion of the barrel of the hypodermic syringe for orienting the needle to the target area; the support body having a distal end adjacent the target area and a proximal end remote from the target area; and a solid state cooling device adjacent the distal end of the support body and surrounded by the support body, including an exposed cooling surface for direct contact with the target area and defining a hole through which the needle is aimed at the target area; wherein the support body is pivotable for needle orientation at different angles to the skin surface of the target area and the hole is a conical hole through which the needle is aimed at the target area, the conical hole having a relatively smaller needle exit aperture at the cooling surface than a needle entrance aperture into the cooling device.