A percussor for respiratory percussion therapy, comprising a lightweight flexible cantilever handle and a soft elastomeric percussion cup secured to the distal end of the handle. The bell-shape of the percussion cup provides a highly effective percussion shock wave and sound, while accommodating a wide range of striking forces and angles relative to any desired body surface. A lip having a large surface area substantially avoids irritation, trauma and injury to the patient.

A treatment device and a method for simultaneously applying vibrations and percussion forces to a predetermined area of a patient's body adjacent the lungs of the patient. The device comprises a housing having a handle portion. A clapping head is disposed exteriorly of the housing and connected to a reciprocable element which is imparted a set low frequency reciprocation movement by a low frequency generation device to impart a clapping action to the head. The head has a contact surface for engagement with the predetermined area of the patient's body. An independent vibrator element is also provided and has a body engaging member which is disposed in relation to the clapping head and connected to a vibration generating device capable of vibrating the vibrator element at a higher predetermined frequency than the reciprocation movement of the clapping head. Preferably, the clapping frequency is in the range of from 0.5 Hz to 2 Hz and the vibration frequency is in the range of from 40 Hz to 70 Hz.

A surgical accessory, and method for using it, for facilitating manual cardiac massage. The device is a generally disc-shaped pad adapted to receive the thumb of the user and to append from the inner thumb surface. The pad is approximately 3-10 centimeters in diameter, 0.5-2 centimeters in width and may secure the thumb by a loop, indentation aperture or the like. The generally disc-shaped pad may be a fluid-filled, foam or solid resilient structure. In order to use the present device, the practitioner attaches the disc to the inside surface of the thumb on the hand which he or she intends to use for cardiac massage. The disc is aligned to oppose the curved surface defined by the palmar skin on the fingers. Cardiac massage is executed as usual, and the device displaces the pressure exerted by the thumb over the myocardial surface in contact with the disc. A more even pumping pressure is thus exerted, and the chances of perforating or distressing the heart with the thumb are minimized.

A device for performing active compression/decompression cardiopulmonary resuscitation includes an applicator body with an upper surface and a lower surface. The lower surface includes provisions for detachably securing to the patient's chest, such as a vacuum cup or an adhesive layer. For manual resuscitation, the upper surface will include a strap or other structure for securing a performer's hand thereto. In an exemplary device, a disc-shaped handle is attached to the upper surface of a vacuum cup applicator by a short connecting stem structure. A pressure gauge mounted to the handle permits the performer to monitor how much force is being applied in both the compression and decompression phases. For automatic applications, a mechanical drive member will be secured to the upper surface. By alternately pressing and lifting on the applicator device, the patient's chest can be compressed and expanded to improve induced ventilation and circulation.

A heart massager for substernal heart massage is disclosed. The heart massager has a heart-contacting member having a surface which is at least partially concave for contacting the heart, cushioning on the surface of the contact member, and a handle attached to the heart-contacting member for manually manipulating the massager. The partially concave surface allows the heart-contacting member to conform to the shape of the heart. The handle is substantially upright with respect to the surface of the heart-contacting member. The handle is significantly offset from a central portion of the heart-contacting member in the region where it attaches to the member. The cushioning covers substantially the entire surface of the heart-contacting member so as to form a solid surface.