EP0660695A1

EP0660695A1 - Spinal therapeutic device

Info

Publication number: EP0660695A1
Application number: EP94921578A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dieter Garnies
Original assignee: Krahnen GmbH
Current assignee: Krahnen GmbH
Priority date: 1993-07-21
Filing date: 1994-07-19
Publication date: 1995-07-05
Also published as: DE4324446A1; WO1995003027A1

Abstract

For the treatment of spinal damage in medical physiotherapy, the patient's spine is stressed via the pelvis by longitudinal forces on the legs in such a way that the setting of displaced spinal components is promoted and the muscles are strengthened. With this device the tensile forces are applied to the feet by spring components (12a, 12b) which are tensioned by means of cables (11a, 11b) from the movements of the pins (10a, 10b) of linear movement components (9a, 9b) driven by an electric motor. The frequency and amplitude of these tensile forces can be changed via a control unit and thus phase shifts between the forces acting on the legs can be adjusted. During the exercises the patient can adjust the exercise programme by actuating controls connected to the supporting grips (19, 19b). The success of the therapy can be improved by fitting heating elements in the brackrest to provide heat treatment for the patient's muscles.

Description

Spine therapy device

To treat damage to the human spine, e.g. B. the intervertebral discs, deformations, therapy devices are used in the field of chiro gymnastics, which promote the adjustment of displaced vertebral bodies and strengthen the muscles around them.

The devices are primarily designed so that the patient lies on a bench and is positioned using the pelvic and head holders. His legs are raised and the feet are connected by ropes to a device attached to the wall of the room. A stretching effect on the spine is produced by rope forces. In this position of the patient, a variety of exercises are carried out under the direction of a practitioner, which influence the position of the spine and promote regeneration. Exercises in which tensile forces on the feet via the legs and the pelvis finally act on the spine are particularly effective here. Both legs are used simultaneously or alternately as in cycling.

A mostly stationary treatment bench with auxiliary devices is required for this treatment method. A tension mechanism arranged on a wall for the positioning of the legs is removed from this, and the tensile forces are generated by the practitioner who carries out the exercises with the patient.

The object of the invention described below is to create a spinal therapy device which promotes the displacement of displaced vertebral bodies and which stimulates the muscles. strengthens around this, the therapeutic movements being brought about by a motor-driven system and the exercises being able to be carried out by the patient himself, that is to say without an auxiliary person.

The object is achieved in that by control and / or adjustable mechanical drives, as well as hydraulic and pneumatic drives, which accomplish a reciprocating movement, spring elements are stretched and the resulting spring force as a tensile force via cables on the feet of the Patients are directed, the forces acting in the same direction on both legs simultaneously or alternately with a phase shift and intermediate values of this phase shift can be set.

In order to be able to practice a broad spectrum of therapeutic exercises, it is preferably provided to change the tensile forces in their amplitude and frequency during the exercises of the therapy program.

The following cases are essentially provided for changing the force-time profiles acting on the patient's legs:

1. Both legs have swelling and descending forces,

2. Both legs are subjected to the phase shift π of both forces rhythmically (comparable to cycling),

3. the phase shift is continuously adjustable from 0 (case 1) to π (case 2),

4. the amplitude of the forces can be adjusted simultaneously for both legs or independently of one another,

5. the time increase and decrease of the forces and the dwell time in special positions are adjustable, 6. the frequency of the movements is adjustable. An electric motor-operated crank drive with adjustable amplitude and speed can be used to generate the back and forth movement.

In another preferred embodiment, pneumatically and / or hydraulically actuated pistons are provided for the longitudinal movements which can be adjusted in amplitude and frequency.

To prepare the patient for the exercises to be carried out, heating elements can be arranged in the area of a rear support for the patient.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows:

1 force-time diagrams for different Kraftverläu¬ fe,

2 is a view of the complete therapy device,

3 shows a view of the linear movement elements in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 2,

Fig. 4 is a view of the cable guide in the direction of

Arrow Y in Fig. 2 and

Fig. 5 schematic view of a pneumatic drive.

1 shows typical force profiles as force-time diagrams and shows:

Curve a: Force-time curve with the same increase in force and

- waste for both legs with simultaneous forces, Curve b: _t force curve as in curve a "for one leg and this with a phase shift of π for the other leg,

Curve c: Force-time curve with different force increases and decreases and a dwell time at maximum force.

Known measures can be used for the technical implementation of the concept of the invention, for example: B. the classic cam drive, which delivers the sinus curve as a displacement curve, hydraulic or pneumatic pistons as drives for a reciprocating movement, or else electromechanical linear movement elements with which the curves shown in FIG. 1 can be realized. The drives are switched by known and not described here electronic control units with a clock generator and can be influenced during the exercises.

The handling of the spinal therapy device is so simple that it can be used for comparable well-known exercise bikes. A therapist must certainly give an introduction and guidance, but he should not be absolutely necessary to carry out the therapeutic gymnastic exercises.

2 shows the basic structure of the ready-to-use therapy device.

It consists of a hard-padded bench 1, which stands on four feet with lockable swivel castors 2 a, 2 b and 3 a and 3 b, which can be folded against bench 1 to fold the device.

In the case of the introduced names of the components, the supplementary designation a for parts on the left and b for parts on the right of the patient have been selected for symmetrically occurring parts, so also the left leg (a) and right leg (b). The swivel joint 4 connects to the bench 1 a boom that consists of three assemblies:

5.1 Boom section with drive units 5.2

5.3 Head of the boom with rope guides.

The assemblies 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 are joined together by simple, known and not described plug connections.

The boom is held in special angular positions by means of the strut 6, 45 ° and 30 ° being preferred here. For this the strut 6, which can be pivoted about the pivot point 7, is provided with two recesses for the locking bolt 8.

The boom is preferably designed as a box girder with slots on the underside for assembly purposes. To assemble the device, the spar 5.2 is separated from the assembly 5.1 with the head of the jib 5.3 and the latter is folded onto the assembly 1 like the feet of the bench 1.

In the lower part 5.1 of the boom, which is connected to the bench 1 via the swivel joint 4, two commercially available linear movement elements 9 a and 9 b are accommodated. The movement elements shown more clearly in FIG. 3 as a view in the direction X are provided with control and controllable electric motors which drive a chain or a spindle after a transmission. With this chain or spindle a pin 10 a and 10 b is connected, which performs a reciprocating movement. The stroke and speed can be changed with the control, which is not described further here.

Ropes 11 a and 11 b are fastened to the pins 10 a and 10 b. Spring elements 12 a and 12 b are arranged in these ropes, which tension the spigot travel and the spring forces that result from this are used by the ropes as tensile transfer forces to the patient's feet. These springs can be helical springs or rubber threads comparable to expanders, they are interchangeable so that the tensile force can be adapted to the patient's exercise by means of different spring stiffness and / or path of the movement elements.

The assembly 5.3 forms the head of the boom with the guidance and deflection of the cables to the patient's feet. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment as a view in the direction Y.

The ropes 11 a and 11 b are guided over two pairs of rope pulleys 13 a and 13 b through the grommets 14 a and 14 b to the patient's feet. The rollers and the grommets are attached to a cantilever plate 15, the projection of the spar 5.2 is so large that the patient can perform pendulum movements with the legs. By selecting a longer spar and thus also longer ropes, the distance between the grommets and the feet can be increased in order to enable larger pendulum and spreading movements of the legs. For this purpose, a telescopic construction for the spar 5.2 can also be provided, with which a simple adaptation to the leg length of the patient is possible.

The patient's feet are held in cuffs similar to sandals, on the soles of which there are eyelets 16a and 16b which are hooked into hooks 17a and 17b of the ropes. In order to be able to easily establish this connection without outside help, helical springs 18 a and 18 b are arranged, which hold the rope end in a favorable position for connection to the feet.

On the bench 1 a handle 19 a and 19 b is attached for each hand, by means of which the patient is supported. Switching elements for control arranged on these handles or in their immediate vicinity are not shown of linear motion elements, stroke and. Frequency, so that the patient can influence the magnitude of the forces and speeds during the exercise.

The idea of the invention can also be implemented by using hydraulic or pneumatic means. 5 shows a hydraulic form of solution, in which two hydraulically actuated pistons 20 a and 20 b are used, for example, instead of the linear movement elements 9 a and 9 b.

The two cables 11 a and 11 b are moved by the single-acting cylinders. A reusable valve 21 a and 21 b each as solenoid valves open according to the program and release the pressure line to the cylinders. The oil pump 23 delivers the hydraulic oil from the tank 24 and builds up the pressure. After switching the valves, the pressure oil flow is blocked and via the second way of the valve oil flows out of the cylinder back into the tank by movements of the pistons, which are caused by the relaxing springs. Displacement transducers and / or limit switches, not shown, report the position of the pistons to the control.

The program is designed in such a way that an electronic clock with adjustable cycle time triggers the program steps and switches the solenoid valves so that the pistons move in the same direction at the same time or phase shifts between the two movements can be set.

The application program can be expanded by adjusting the piston stroke and thus the amplitude of the tensile force on the patient's legs.

In this form of solution of the inventive concept, the patient can influence the exercises by actuating switching elements on the handles 19 a and 19 b. To prepare the patient for the exercises to be carried out, it is often necessary to counteract tension in the muscles surrounding the spine by heat treatment. For this purpose, the invention provides heating elements in the upholstery of the bench 1, which warm the patient's back in the initial rest position. These heating elements, not shown in FIG. 2, can be switched by the patient and provided with temperature control.

Instead of the horizontal bench with back supports for the patient shown in FIG. 2, in another embodiment (not shown) a seat with a backrest and a leg support arranged pivotably on or on a frame can be provided. The pivot axis is preferably arranged in the region of the end of the seat facing the backrest. To prepare the patient for the exercises to be carried out, the patient first takes a seat in the essentially upright seat. Heating elements are provided in the backrest or possibly also in the seat, which heat the patient's back in the initial sitting position and / or in the subsequent sitting position. The patient is brought into an essentially horizontal supine position by pivoting the seat. After completing the preparatory heat treatment, the seat which can be pivoted with respect to the backrest and the leg supports which can be pivoted with respect to the seat are brought into the position most favorable for spinal therapy, so that the patient assumes the position shown in FIG. 2. The boom guiding the cable pulls can in this case consist of one or two bars arranged laterally on the frame, on or between which the seat can be arranged pivotably.

Claims

claims

1. Spinal column therapy device for generating tensile forces in the legs of a patient, which act on the spine through the pelvis for the purpose of treating spinal column damage, characterized in that control and / or adjustable mechanical drives (9 a, 9 b), likewise also hydraulic or pneumatic drives which bring about a reciprocating movement, spring elements (12 a, 12 b) are stretched and the resulting spring force is guided as a tensile force via cable pulls (11 a, 11 b) to the patient's feet , the forces acting in the same direction on both legs simultaneously or alternately with a phase shift and intermediate values of this phase shift being adjustable.

2. Spinal column therapy device according to claim 1, which means that the tensile forces are variable in amplitude and frequency during the exercises of the therapy program.

3. Spinal column therapy device according to claim 2, which means that an electromotive crank drive with adjustable amplitude and speed is used to generate the back and forth movement.

4. spine therapy device according to claim 2, d a ¬ d u r c h g e k e n e z e i c h n e t that pneumatically and / or hydraulically operated pistons for the in

Amplitude and frequency adjustable longitudinal movements are provided.

5. Spinal column therapy device according to one of claims 1 to 4, that the heating elements are provided in preparation for the patient for the exercises to be carried out in the area of a back support for the patient.