Hair-growth control device and hair-growth control method

Abstract

The invention relates to a device () for hair-growth control of hairs (), in particular hairs growing from human skin (). The device () has a laser source () for generating a laser beam () during a pulse time, an optical system () for focusing the laser beam into a focal spot (), and a laser beam manipulator () for positioning the focal spot in a target position. According to the invention, a dimension of the focal spot () and a power of the generated laser beam () are such that, in the focal spot (), the laser beam has a power density which is above a characteristic threshold value for hair-growth related skin tissue above which, for the pulse time, a laser induced optical breakdown (LIOB) phenomenon occurs in the hair-growth related skin tissue. The LIOB phenomenon results in a number of mechanical effects, such as cavitation and the generation of shock waves, which damage the hair-growth related skin tissue in positions surrounding the LIOB phenomenon. An advantage of the device () according to the invention is that the amount of total energy which is necessary to cause trauma and induce (semi-)permanent cessation of hair-growth is at such a level that irritation and damage of the surrounding skin tissue is very limited or even completely prevented.