Vibration therapy device

Technical field

The invention relates to the medical field and can be used to improve the circulation of patients with circulatory disorders, to reduce the tremors of the hands caused by Essential Tremor, Parkinson's or other diseases, and to reduce stiffness caused by rheumatic or neurological diseases, while improving quality of life.

State of the art

Document no. 20100174217A1 (US), a portable point vibration physiotherapy device used to relieve symptoms of sensory dysfunction, neuropathy, attention deficit disorder, or other conditions. The unit consists of a vibration generator, a power management scheme, a housing and a user interface system that allows you to customize the frequency and duration of vibrations generated by the vibration generator according to the user's needs.

The specified device does not have predefined vibration characteristics that repeatedly reduce the symptoms of trembling, stiffness, or improve blood circulation. Also, the body of the device does not have the shape to transfer most of the energy of the vibrator generator to the user's hand, it has to be attached to the body, the device does not have autonomous control of vibration characteristics and thus increase the efficiency of therapy.

There is a well-known Brownmed firm's Intellinetix Therapy gloves (US) for local oscillation therapy consisting of small, high-frequency, vibrating motors mounted at various locations on the glove to which an electrical excitation generator is connected (www.brownmed.com). The construction of this device is described in US9775769 B2, A61H23 / 02, 2017-10-03.

the design of this device (prototype) consists of a compression glove with small, high-frequency vibrating motors built into its material, which transmit the therapeutic effect of the vibrations directly to the finger joints. In the given device, the effect of vibrations on the fingers of the hand is performed in parallel by orthotic compression. However, the effect of the oscillation in this way is significantly weaker and only works locally at the location of the vibrating motors. This device is designed for compression of arthritis-affected hands and vibration therapy at the same time.

In the above-mentioned device, the effect of vibrations on the human hand is made through contact with vibration motors located at the hand joints by applying an electrical signal from an excitation generator. In this way, the effect of the vibrations occurs only locally in a small area, that is, in the area in contact with the vibrating motors, which is not effective enough. This device is also difficult to hold on the wrist due to rheumatoid arthritis stiffness. The frequencies used in the device operate in the high (usually greater than 30Hz) range and the effects on human tissue are relatively low.

The essence of the invention

The object of the present invention is to improve the blood flow of patients with circulatory disorders, to reduce the tremors of hands caused by essential tremor, Parkinson's or other diseases, and to reduce rigidity caused by rheumatic or neurological diseases, while improving the efficiency of therapy and improving quality of life.

The object of the present invention is achieved by the fact that a vibration physiotherapy device consisting of a housing, an oscillator, a control unit, an energy management module and a user interface system and a switch, a control unit mounted in the housing of the device comprises an interconnected oscillation tracking system having transducers; a controller to which an additional module unit consisting of a diagnostic module is connected, a wireless module and an auxiliary module module, which can be connected all together or optionally, and the controller on the other side is connected to a power control module and a vibration generator which is connected to the generated vibration characteristics tracking system.

In addition, the switch which is mounted on the outside of the housing and connected to the control unit and user interface system is a button and / or an electronic display and / or a touch or rotation sensitive element and / or an inertial sensor.

In addition, the oscillation tracking system has at least one transducer (e.g., for converting the frequency of vibrations generated into electrical signals, etc.), and the oscillator of the device has an electric motor and / or an unbalanced mass, and / or an electromagnet and / or piezo element, and / or a permanent magnet coupled to a vibration tracking system.

Alternatively, the device body may be spherical, rectangular, cylindrical or other irregularly shaped and may have additional protrusions formed in the body and / or caps, straps, or other elements of a suitable shape fixed to it.

Also, the diagnostic module has an element for evaluating a patient's functional state (e.g., hand-shaking intensity, therapy progress, and the like) and a self-diagnostic (e.g., electrical circuit current, temperature monitoring, and the like).

Also, the wireless module has an information exchange element (e.g., Bluetooth that communicates with external imaging devices such as a phone, tablet).

Also, the additional element module comprises a heating and / or cooling therapy element and / or a vibrating and / or light therapy element. Also, the supplemental element module has an identification element coupled to a controller (e.g., fingerprints) and a physiotherapeutic control element (e.g., light, sound, vibration).

Brief description of the drawings

The essence of the invention is illustrated in figures.

FIG. a block diagram of an oscillating physiotherapy device is shown;

FIG. a general view of the vibration physiotherapy device is shown;

FIG. the principle of using a vibration physiotherapy device is illustrated;

FIG. depicts a possible embodiment of a vibrator physiotherapy device sleeve;

The oscillation physiotherapy unit comprises a housing 1, an oscillator 2, a control unit 3, a power management module 4, a user interface system 5 and an on / off / wake switch 6, wherein the control unit 3 has a vibration characteristics tracking system 7 having transducers, and a controller 8 to which an auxiliary module unit 9 is connected, comprising a diagnostic module 10, a wireless module 11 and an auxiliary element module 12. The vibration tracking system 7 has at least one converter which, for example, converts the frequency of the vibrations it generates into electrical signals. The oscillator 2 of the device has an electric motor and / or an imbalance mass and / or an electromagnet and / or a piezoelectric element and / or a permanent magnet. The device switch 6 mounted on the outside of the housing 1 may be a button and / or an electronic display and / or a touch or rotation sensitive element and / or an inertial sensor. the device diagnostic module 10 includes a patient functional status evaluation element 13 (e.g., hand tremor intensity, therapy progress, and the like) as well as a self-diagnostic element 14 (e.g., electrical circuit current, temperature monitoring). The wireless module 11 of the device has an information exchange element 15 (e.g., Bluetooth that communicates with external imaging devices 16, such as a telephone, tablet). The module 12 of the additional elements of the device comprises a heating and / or cooling and / or vibrating and / or light or other therapy element 17 and an identification element 18 (e.g. a fingerprint reader). Also, the auxiliary element module 12 has a physiotherapeutic action control element 19 (e.g., light, sound, vibration). The housing 1 of the device may have additional bulges (fig. not shown) formed in the housing itself and the pins 20, straps or other elements of a suitable shape fixed to it.

Implementation of the invention

The vibration physiotherapy device is turned on / off by a switch 6 in the user interface system 5, which can be a button and / or a touch screen and / or a touch or rotation sensitive element and / or an inertial sensor. The power management module 4 regulates the electrical parameters of the electrical circuit, controls and provides information on the battery charge process and charge level. The controller 8 of the control unit 3 activates and controls the oscillator during therapy

2. The oscillator 2 may be an electric motor with an unbalanced mass, an electromagnet, a piezo-element or any element or system capable of generating mechanical vibrations. The characteristics of the vibrations generated by the oscillator 2, such as frequency, amplitude, etc., are predetermined and depend on the patient's disease and physical condition. These characteristics are monitored by the control unit 3 using the vibration characteristics tracking system 7. This system has transducers that change the mechanical vibration characteristics to electrical signals understood by the control unit 3 (e.g., it can be a simple impedance divider and an analog-to-digital converter whose output signal to controller 8 correlates with any of the oscillator vibration characteristic parameter). Because controller 8 receives real-time vibration information through the generated oscillation tracking system 7, it can respond to changes in the environment (compression forces of different patients' hands, varying orientation in space due to different storage, etc.) and avoid oscillations by varying control signal which controls the oscillator 2. After a period of time (experiments have shown that it takes from 3 min. up to 30 minutes) informing the user about the end of therapy or the elapsed time. The device is equipped with a user functional status estimator 13 an inertial, temperature, or other sensor that allows the user to estimate the intensity of a hand shake, body temperature, or other parameter, respectively. The sensor information is used to inform the user about the therapy process and to analyze the effectiveness of the therapy. Each user has different physiological parameters, different disease symptoms, and predefined vibration characteristics may not be as effective for all users. Artificial neural networks, machine learning, or other algorithms that utilize the aforementioned sensor-generated information and information provided by the user to evaluate the effectiveness of the therapy through the user interface system 5 and external imaging devices 16 are used to find the most effective. The device also includes a self-diagnostic element 14 - a comparator, temperature or other sensor, which allows to measure the current of the electrical circuit, the heating level of the components or to measure another parameter by which the condition of the device can be evaluated. The device also has an information exchange element 15 - Bluetooth, Wifi, ZigBee and so on. This allows the device to share information with external imaging devices 16 such as a phone, tablet or the like. The unit auxiliary element module 12 includes a therapy element (ultrasound, heat, light, etc.). This allows the device to provide not only vibration therapy but also additional therapy, saving time or increasing the efficiency of the device. The auxiliary elements module 12 also includes an identification element 18 which allows for rapid identification of the person using the device (e.g., fingerprint scanner). Since most patients using the device perform additional physiotherapeutic exercises, the device add-on module 12 includes a physiotherapeutic action element 19 that emits light, sound, or information about physiotherapeutic exercises, device orientation, and spatial motion. This element expands the functionality of the device and can act as a physiotherapy wizard for exercises, commenting on progress, correctness of performance, giving commands, and so on.

If the user finds it difficult or uncomfortable to hold the device in his hand, he uses additional sleeves 20 which are shaped to facilitate holding. Sleeves are also used when the user wants to attach the device to another area of ​​the body. In addition, the housing 1 (see Fig. 4) of the device is represented by, but not limited to, a spherical shape: it may be elliptical, polygonal, rectangular, or simply irregular. Also, the housing 1 may have biases / curves arranged in the housing 1 such that, when the device is held in hand, a greater portion of the vibration energy is transmitted to the required parts of the body, thereby increasing the effectiveness of therapy (e.g., housing 1 may have in a particular muscle).

Industrial applicability

Compared to the prototype, the new set of structural elements, thanks to the vibration characteristics retrieved in the device can be adapted to different patients' physical and medical conditions, allows for more effective vibration therapy and adaptation to a new consumer audience - patients with circulatory disorders caused by essential tremor, Parkinson's or other diseases, and rigidity caused by rheumatic or neurological diseases - and at the same time improve the quality of life. In addition, the device has the ability to share information with an external device, and perform additional diagnostic, self-diagnostic, complex therapy, physiotherapy, and wizard functions.