Treatment of skin disorders with UV light and cooling

Abstract

Skin disorders such as, for example, atopic dermatitis, dyshidrosis, eczema, lichen planus, psoriasis, and vitiligo, are treated by applying high doses of ultraviolet light to diseased regions of a patients skin. The dosage employed exceeds 1 MED, an MED being determined for the particular patient being treated, and may range from about 1 MED to about 20 MED or higher. The ultraviolet light has a wavelength within the range of between about 295 nanometers to about 320 nanometers and preferably is between about 300 nanometers and about 310 nanometers. High doses of ultraviolet light are restricted to diseased tissue areas so as to avoid risk of detrimental side affects in healthy skin, which is more susceptible to damage from UV light. Cooling the skin prior to and/or while exposing the skin to the UV light can be used to minimize tissue damage resulting from exposure to the UV light. Higher doses of UV light can therefore be employed without injurious affects.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for treating diseased skin with ultraviolet (UV) light, the apparatus comprising: 
 a source of UV light within the range of 300 and 315 nanometers; and    a cooler for cooling the diseased skin.    
     
     
         2 . An apparatus for treating an area of diseased epidermal tissue with ultraviolet UV light, the apparatus comprising: 
 a source of high intensity ultraviolet light equal to or greater than about 1 minimum erythema dose (MED) in the wavelength range of between about 300 and 315 nanometers having an output for emitting the UV light;    a conduit positioned to receive said ultraviolet light, said conduit having an output end that emits said UV light;    a delivery device that includes said output end of said conduit; and    a cooler included in said delivery device.    
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein said delivery device has a localized UV output sufficiently small to illuminate a portion of skin no larger than said area of diseased epidermal tissue.  
     
     
         4 . A method for treating an epidermal region comprising diseased tissue, the method comprising: 
 cooling the diseased tissue and exposing the diseased tissue in said epdermal region to a dosage of ultraviolet light equal to or greater than about 1 minimum erythema dose (MED) in the wavelength range of between about 300 and 315 nanometers.