Wrinkles are cosmetically removed from a superficial area of mammalian skin tissue having an epidermal layer, a basal layer, and a dermal layer, by irradiating the dermal layer through the basal layer, the irradiation having an energy density in the range 5J/cm.sup.2 or less, and being selected to be absorbed by a chromophore in the dermal layer such that collagen present in the dermal layer is heated, while the basal layer remains intact so as to substantially inhibit contact of the dermal layer with ambient air.

A dermatological handpiece by which a laser beam is directed to the surface of a selected skin area for purposes of a cosmetic treatment and the skin area is subjected to the action of the laser beam. A method is also disclosed for the cosmetic treatment of skin surfaces during the operation of this handpiece. A handpiece of the type described above is outfitted with a device for moderating the temperature of the skin surfaces on which the laser beam acted immediately beforehand and/or is to be subjected to the action of the laser beam immediately following the temperature moderation. The handpiece is further provided with elements for influencing the laser beam cross section with respect to shape, dimensioning and intensity distribution.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for permanently or temporarily removing human hair, for miniaturizing the same or for changing the color thereof. This apparatus can also be used for coagulating blood vessels, veins or a selective injury of the derma collagen in order to regenerate the same. This apparatus uses one or more incandescent lamps (4) in which the radiation spectrum (34) can be modulated in order to heat slowly and efficiently the derma (17) and in order to heat locally the hair follicles (35). This apparatus also includes an optical system that converts the blue-green portion of the spectrum of the incandescent lamps (4) into a red region of the spectrum, that provides a highly efficient concentration of converted radiation from the incandescent filament (37) of the lamps (4) on the area of biological tissues to be treated, and that ensures a repeated recirculation towards the skin (17) of the radiation scattered by the same.

A method and system of delivering energy to material in which energy is converted to thermal energy in the material, and prior to significant therapeutic or other physiological change in a selected or target region of the material, results in a temperature rise which is maximum in a selected region of the material but which is insufficient to cause significant therapeutic or other physiological effect, the system for selective preheating of subsurface target regions of material such as human tissue including an energy source to preheat the material or tissue, a passive or active cooling means, and a device for delivering therapeutic or treatment energy, such as pulsed, electromagnetic, laser or non-coherent energy, to tissue during or after the preheating and cooling of the tissue.

A method for selective heating of subsurface structures in material such as tissue includes a cooling device for thermally quenching or removing heat from the top surface of tissue during or just after delivering pulsed energy to target or subsurface structures or tissue, a preferred embodiment of the invention using dynamic cooling, to quench the thermal energy conducted from the targeted structure into surrounding tissue.