A number of abrasive materials and methods are used to abrade, scrape, cleanse, massage, or buff the skin, scalp, fingernails, toenails, teeth, tongue or other body surfaces or body cavities of animals, and in particular, mammals such as humans.
Dermabrasion equipment is typically used to mechanically remove outer layers of skin to provide a fresh skin surface. One type of dermabrasion equipment is similar to a wire brush attached to an electric drill. One example of the more popular types is an apparatus that applies a stream of abrasive particles to skin under selectable pressure while simultaneously vacuuming the particles and flakes of skin debris into a waste container. This later type of dermabrasion equipment can simply remove the stratum corneum or penetrate deeply enough to remove the upper layers of the dermis. The process of applying abrasives can be repeated several times to achieve the desired effects.
Dermabrasion (which we use here to include dermaplaning, skin refinishing, skin resurfacing and surgical scraping) is used as a cosmetic procedure to improve the overall appearance of the skin, to reduce wrinkles, improve the appearance of scars or skin discoloration, and to remove pre-cancerous keratoses. Dermabrasion procedures generally penetrate deeper than chemical peels. By abrading down to the dermis layer, these procedures promote the production of collagen.
The abrasives currently used in dermabrasion equipment are typically 100-120 grit materials that include aluminum oxide, sodium bicarbonate and salt. Other abrasives including glass or polymeric beads have been proposed for use with dermabrasion equipment, which could be coated or mixed with beneficial agents such as anti-bacterials or other abrasives. One example of this is seen in International Patent Application No. WO 00139675 entitled “Skin Abrasion System and Method.”
Another technique used to remove outer layers of skin is to manually scrub the face, for example, with pastes, creams or lotions that contain abrasives. Manual exfoliation mechanically removes outer layers of skin to provide a fresh skin surface, and has also been used to debride wounds. The abrasives currently used in manual scrubs include aluminum oxide, apricot pits, salt, olive pits, walnut shells, polyethylene beads, pumice, sodium tetraborate decahydrate granules and sugar. The abrasives are typically mixed into a carrier that often includes agents like moisturizers, emulsifiers, chelating agents, nutrients, and preservatives. Some examples can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,976 entitled “Facial Skin Dermabrasion Cleansing and Conditioning Composition;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,694 entitled “Pharmaceutical Compositions and Methods for Managing Scalp Conditions;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,085 entitled “Skin Smoothing Compositions Containing Hydroxyacids and Methods for Using Same;” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,145 entitled “Body Polisher.”
However, these abrasive materials and systems have limited effectiveness. For example, these types of abrasives do not possess significant biological properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-irritant and anti-oxidant effects and cannot significantly accelerate or improve wound healing. In addition, these types of abrasives are known to clog dermabrasion equipment.
Accordingly, improved abrasive materials for machine or manual abrasion of human or animal tissue or body surfaces, such as human skin, would be highly advantageous. In particular, it would be advantageous if such abrasive materials provided significant properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-irritant and anti-oxidant effects as well as the acceleration and improvement of wound healing. In addition it would be advantageous if these improved abrasive materials were capable of minimizing or eliminating clogging of dermabrasion equipment.
It also would be advantageous for dermabrasion purposes to have non-toxic, non-bioactive (i.e., “bioinert”) glasses and ceramics where such glass or ceramic provides good abrasive effects, reduces or eliminates potentially harmful small particles (i.e., “fines”), reduces or eliminates clogging of dermabrasion equipment, and possesses a relatively large surface area for applying coatings (e.g., anti-bacterial agents, lotions, vitamins and color). It also would be advantageous if such bioinert glasses and ceramics were relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.