The invention contemplates a non-invasive technique and apparatus for artificially stimulating the venous-return flow of blood from the foot by inducing fast-rising pulsed squeezing or necking-down of the vessels of the venous-pump mechanism within the foot. The stimulation results from transient flattening of the plantar arch, in that an induced transient spread of the heel with respect to the ball of the foot stretches, and therefore necks-down involved blood vessels; stimulation also results from such a squeeze of the plantar-arch region as to concurrently squeeze the involved blood vessels. Cyclically inflatable devices, local to the foot-pump region, are disclosed for inducing either or both of the indicated actions; and enhanced arterial throughput is achieved when the stimulating pulse is sustained for a brief period prior to a relaxation dwell between pulses.
RELATED CASES
This application is a division of copending application Ser. No. 889,376, filed Aug. 1, 1986, and said copending application is a continuation-in-part of copending applications, Ser. No. 763,686, filed Aug. 8, 1985 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,180, and Ser. No. 794,443, filed Nov. 4, 1985 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,179; said application Ser. No. 763,686 is a continuation-in-part of original application Ser. No. 621,499, now abandoned filed June 18, 1984; said application Ser. No. 794,443 is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 751,150, filed June 2, 1985, now abandoned, and said application Ser. No. 751,150 is a division of said original application.
A one-piece slipper construction, into which an inflatable foot-pump bag or bladder is permanently integrated and wherein a thin reinforcement panel is fully contained and located within a flat-foldable wrap, for selective completion of the circumferential tie that is needed for assurance of stimulated foot-pump action. In the preferred embodiment, the wrap is so further devised as to provide a flexibly reinforced, non-stretch backing reference for a laterally extending portion of the inflatable bag, for active stimulation of the adjacent dorsi-medial region, where further blood accumulates as part of the pool from which venous return flow can be driven.
A method and an apparatus for facilitating the healing of soft tissue wounds. The method includes the steps of selecting an area of tissue that is wounded, and applying therapeutic microcurrent excursions ranging from 100 to 1,000 microamperes and having a frequency of 10 to 50 hertz to the selected area of tissue. The apparatus includes a bandage containing circuitry for generating the therapeutic microcurrent excursions and a first and a second electrode coupled to the circuitry. A housing holds said first and second electrodes apart and adjacent to said selected area of tissue when the apparatus is placed over the selected area of tissue. During operation of the apparatus, an electric circuit is completed as microcurrent excursions propagate from the first electrode across the selected tissue wound to the second electrode.
A test system and method for evaluating the efficiency of the venous pump in leg muscles and for identifying incompetent venous valves. The test system comprises a legging having inflatable bladders, a manifold and a system controller. A pressurized inflation source is provided which is in fluid communication with the manifold and the legging. The controller sequences valves within the manifold to inflate and deflate the bladders of the legging. The test system further includes a Doppler blood flow sensor interfaced to the controller. The sensor is configured with a housing which contains a rotatable disk, upon which two pairs of crystals are disposed. The sensor housing is secured a leg of a patient proximate a blood vessel in which blood flow is to be measured. The patient is positioned on a reclinable test station, upon which the controller and manifold may be mounted. The maximum volume of venous blood output from the leg is measured and the venous output flow is subsequently measured after the bladders are sequentially inflated above a first location on the leg of the patient. Reduced venous output flow from the maximum volume output indicates reflux and identifies the location of an incompetent valve.
A medical appliance for intermittent compressive excitation of body tissue in the region of a proximal joint provides relief of pain and/or swelling at or near the joint. Specifically, a sleeve or wrap of the involved joint, wherein the sleeve or wrap has certain directionally oriented features of relative flexibility, retains an inflatable bag near the joint, and a relatively non-stretch circumferential tie surrounds the sleeve and is, at least in part, in register with the retained flexible bag. Apparatus is provided for rapid transient inflation of the bag, followed by relaxation for a predetermined period of time prior to initiation of the next such pulsed inflation. Various forms of sleeve or wrap are described, as are also various forms of inflatable bag.
Apparatus for therapeutically or prophylactically treating a diagnosed or potential deep-vein thrombosis involves intermittent application of tourniquet action to the leg at a location preferably close to the ankle, i.e., at the distal-calf region of the leg, in time-coordinated relation to artificially stimulated foot-pump action; the level of tourniquet action is such as to reduce the availability of superficial veins to carry the venous-return flow that is stimulated by foot-pump action, and the level of tourniquet action is also insufficient to materially affect access to deep-veins which are the primary target of therapeutic or prophylactic treatment. In a modification, the sequencing of tourniquet and foot-pump action is changed to enhance the priming of blood in the plantar veins of a foot which must remain elevated above the heart level of a patient confined to bed, whereby circulation can be more effectively stimulated by foot-pump action.
