EP3613477A1

EP3613477A1 - Device to activate the cervical musculature

Info

Publication number: EP3613477A1
Application number: EP19192746.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michele MAROGNA; Marcello GIRARDINI; Alberto PATUZZO
Original assignee: Heka Medical Srl
Current assignee: Heka Medical Srl
Priority date: 2018-08-22
Filing date: 2019-08-21
Publication date: 2020-02-26
Also published as: IT201800008154A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a device (10; 100) to activate, stimulate or reinforce the cervical musculature, the device (10; 100) comprising an inner structure (30; 130) made of rigid material and provided with a base wall (13) which faces a reference surface (S), an outer structure (20; 120) made of soft material, arranged above the inner structure (30; 130) and defining a support surface (22; 122, 123) which is able to receive and support the cervical spine (R) of a patient (P), mainly develops along a pre-established linear direction (X), has a concave profile according to a cut plane (Y) orthogonal to the pre-established linear direction (X), and at least one force transducer (37) coupled to a central portion (12, 38) of the outer structure (20; 120) and/or of the inner structure (30; 130) and suitable to detect the intensity and/or the direction of the force applied to the support surface (22; 122, 123) by the cervical spine (R) of the patient (P).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device to activate, stimulate, reinforce or even, in an extended sense, exercise or train the cervical musculature or, following a purely technical-medical jargon, to improve recovery of the cervical musculature.

PRIOR ART

With the advent of the tertiary industrial sector, the general lengthening of the path of studies of young people and the population propensity to a more sedentary life, there has been a significant increase in the last years of the incidence of musculoskeletal illnesses such as cervicalgia, migraine and headache.
Therefore, in-depth studies have been necessary to try to understand the causes of these new pathologies of which the human body of people suffers.
Scientific studies published in the last ten years identify the main cause of cervicalgia and, therefore, of the headache correlated to it in the hypotonotrophy of the deep cervical musculature. Furthermore, it was found that there is a strong correlation between "reinforcement" of these muscles and improvement of symptoms.
This atrophy is mainly due to recruitment deficits, therefore non-use, of the cervical musculature, due to cortical alterations of motor control, arthrogenic inhibition, postural compensation caused by the pain.
One of the most therapeutic approaches validated in the literature and effective for reactivating or reinforcing these muscles when they are "sleepy" (that is to say little used or under stress) consists in the "retropulsion" movement of the cervical spine (accompanied, in practice, by a contraction of the back of the chin), described with the patient in a supine position, using a support element that provides support for the cervical lordosis.
This particular exercise until now was made to practice to the patients exclusively in the medical office, while they were assisted by the health personnel and through the aid of tools/objects of recovery (such as for example towels), used to the need to support the neck and, therefore, adjusted to the purpose, although not properly suitable for this as they are normally intended for other uses.
A research team in the USA has developed and patented a more scientific system to allow the patient to independently perform and monitor an exercise to strengthen his musculature, also such a system uses recovery tools, as it consists of a cushion filled with air to which a feedback pressure gauge is applied in which the patient reads or sees what he is pressing with the part concerned of his body: it is essentially a tool to measure blood pressure adapted to a new use, moreover described in the patent document US5,338,276 .
However, this device or tool of known type has some clear limitations: indeed, on one hand, it has been conceived mainly if not exclusively for use in the research field and, as described in the patent document, it appears to concern applications essentially related to the lumbar area of the human body and above all, on the other hand, its use in autonomy is not very intuitive for both the therapist and the patient.
In hypothesis, the device described in US5,338,276 could also be used at the cervical spine to activate its musculature, but the fact remains that this would still be an evident, inappropriate, clumsy or at least forced adaptation of a device to a use for which it is not actually provided or recommended and that it cannot be easily monitored by the therapist or even independently by the patient, with the consequence of not offering the necessary guarantees in the effectiveness of activation or stimulation of the cervical musculature.
Incidentally, it is highlighted that, in the literature it has been widely found that if the "retropulsion" movement of the cervical spine performed by the patient is excessive or limited or if it activates inadequate muscles (for example the sternocleidomastoid muscles), the exercise does not work and no activation or reinforcement of the cervical musculature is obtained, but rather, the effects are often contrary and negative, causing an increase in cervicalgia.
Other devices are currently available, such as, for example, the apparatus for postural awareness or sensitization described in US6,648,838 B1 which, however, presents an articulated constructive conception and a considerable bulk in relation to the object of the present invention - as said, consisting of a device to activate the cervical musculature - where it is considered that, in summary, it includes a bench or a mat (indicated for example with the numerical reference 142 or 12) on whose upper face both a padded portion (numerical reference 148 or 14), against which the lumbar area of the user's back comes into contact, and a head/neck/upper back support (reference number 154, 128 or 28) are supported or made integral: both the lumbar area and the head/neck/upper back support are provided with detection means (numerical reference 158, 118 or 18) and signaling means (such as two vibrators, reference number 156, 122 or 22) electrically connected each other.
Moreover, such a head/neck/upper back support has a composite profile in transverse section, mostly convex and linear for the remaining part, which is not so ergonomic for the user, especially for the neck that it supports, to not mention the fact that US6,648,838 B1 is silent about the type of material with which the support itself is made.
For its part, prior art document WO2015/061663 A1 shows an apparatus for the reduction of traumas of the head or neck having a rather rigid and complex structure since it is multilayered (indeed, at least eleven layers interposed each on the other are found), and provided with sensors that mainly and essentially have the function of controlling the movements of the user's neck to block them if they exceed preset values of position, speed, acceleration and/or angle: these sensors, therefore, measure a parameter foreign to force.
Prior document published with WO2006/097921 A2 relates, instead, to a device for treating the tension or injury of the neck comprising a kind of motorized cradle (head support numbered with 14) which is moved spatially independently with respect to a fixed base (numbered with 12 and configured to be placed on the floor, on a treatment table or directly on the user's shoulders) to move in turn the user's neck and subject it to treatment, relieving his pain: the device of WO2006/097921 A2 , thus, has a rather articulated, complicated and cumbersome construction concept, due not only to the effect of the extensible connection system between the fixed base and the head support but also to the conformation of these two component elements which is profoundly different from each other. Moreover, the head support is provided with sensors (reference numeral 36) having the function of determining the force applied to the user's head when the device is working, as well as, also, other sensors useful for measuring physiological parameters associated with the muscles or to the vertebrae of the neck itself: among these, for example, the surface myography sensors used to measure the muscle stiffness of the neck or to assess the level of muscle healing, or temperature or blood flow sensors can be included.
The apparatus described in patent document CN103169559 B also belongs to the prior art, which however has the same drawbacks noted above in relation to the prior documents briefly commented upon, available and known to the applicant, especially with reference to overall dimensions, constructive complexity and ergonomics of the support component of the person's neck.
The present invention intends to overcome the limitations of the prior art described above.
In particular, primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a device to activate or reinforce the cervical musculature that, unlike the devices comparable to it for functionality and purpose currently available on the market, is expressly and specifically dedicated, designed and studied for this purpose, so that its use on the patient's cervical musculature is more effective than known devices.
It is a second purpose of the present invention to devise a device to activate or strengthen the cervical musculature which, contrary to the known art, allows the patient, suffering from neck pain and correlated headache, to be guided in an effective, practical and immediately understandable manner, in the performance of specific reinforcing exercises, in particular in the "retropulsion" movements of the cervical spine, useful for reactivating or stimulating the deep flexor musculature of the neck (or more properly, of the cervical spine).
A further purpose of the invention is to apply the modern concepts of self-treatment and awareness of the patient in the independent management of acute and chronic muscle-skeletal pathologies he eventually suffers, favouring self-control of the patient on site, whatever this may be.
It is a last but not least purpose of the present invention to indicate a device to activate or reinforce the cervical musculature which has a constructive conception simpler and overall dimensions smaller than the devices of the known art to some extent comparable to it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Said purposes are achieved through an innovative device designed specifically to activate, stimulate or reinforce the cervical musculature, according to the attached claim 1; in particular, the device of the invention comprises an inner structure made of rigid material and provided with a base wall which faces (generally rests directly on) a reference surface, an outer structure made of soft material, arranged above the inner structure and defining at least one support surface that receives and supports the cervical spine of a patient, mainly develops along a pre-established linear direction and has a concave profile according to a section plane orthogonal to the pre-established linear direction, as well as at least one force transducer coupled to a central portion of the outer structure and/or inner structure and adapted to detect or measure the intensity and/or direction of the force applied to the support surface by the patient's cervical spine.
Among the advantages of the present invention is certainly the fact that it grants the patient autonomy in performing retropulsion exercises, allowing him to intervene effectively on the neck and on the headache correlated to it, treating them while even remaining at home, with the supervision of a doctor or physiotherapist reduced to a simple monitoring of the progresses.
This entails the not negligible advantage of stimulating the patient to repeat more frequently and consistently the exercise of activating the cervical musculature, to all the advantage of further increasing its effectiveness.
Furthermore, the device of the invention guarantees a precise and repeatable measurement and ensures a comfortable use for most end users.
Indeed, its shape and its dimensions are such as to allow its use to any user, from the elderly to adults and younger people up to even children.
According to a specific aspect of the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention, the force transducer is placed at the inner structure of the device. An advantage of this embodiment is that the force transducer allows to detect, measure, monitor or control the correct performance of the exercises to be performed by means of the device of the present invention.
According to another peculiar and preferred aspect of the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention, four force transducers are provided at different points of the central portion of the device in order to detect the intensity and direction of the forces applied to the device.
Thanks to this solution, it is just possible to detect the intensity and direction of the forces applied to the device for the purpose of accurately monitoring the correct performance of the exercises.
According to a further particular aspect of the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention, the force transducer is configured to be connected with a controller provided with a display and/or an acoustic device.
Particularly, the aforesaid display provides a plurality of LEDs that can be lighted on proportionally to the intensity of the pressure detected by the force transducers. Thanks to this solution, the intensity and/or direction of the force exerted by the patient, detected (in the sense of being measured) by the force transducers, is monitored and displayed in the display so that the patient himself realizes, in an immediate and autonomous way, of how he's performing the exercise of reinforcing the cervical musculature.
Recent scientific studies in the sector have indeed shown that the possibility of visually monitoring in real time the output of the therapeutic or rehabilitative exercise during execution (according to the principles of bio-feedback) makes the patient more aware of what is doing and accelerates learning thereof, stimulating the repetitiveness of the exercise itself whose effectiveness is thus increased. According to a preferred but non-binding embodiment of the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention, the support surface for the cervical spine has a substantially saddle-like conformation.
Such a conformation allows an ideal adaptability of the device in the area where the most prominent cervical vertebrae are present (those ones that in anatomy are identified respectively with C0, that is occipital prominence, and spiny T1, or first dorsal vertebra).
In a preferred and advantageous way, likewise, the inner structure and the outer structure of the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention have in plan view the same profile and the same overall dimensions and in cross section, made according to the pre-established linear direction defined above, different and profiles mutually conjugated or complementary: this reflects in a considerably simpler and less complex construction and in a substantially smaller overall size by the device of the invention than those ones of devices of a known type to some extent comparable to it, such as for instance the one described in the prior art document published with US6,648,838 B1 .
Other technical features of detail of the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention can be deduced from the dependent claims.
The above claims, hereafter specifically and concretely defined, are intended as an integral part of the present description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and peculiarities of the invention will become more apparent by reading the following description, relating to preferred embodiments of the device to activate, stimulate or reinforce the cervical musculature for which exclusive protection is herewith claimed, provided by illustrative and exemplificative but not limitative way, with the help of the figures shown in the attached drawings, where:

figure 1 is an exploded assonometric view of a first possible embodiment of the device of the invention associated with a wireless display;
figure 2a is a view from the top of the device of the invention of figure 1;
figure 2b is the view of figure 2a according to the plane IIb-IIb;
figure 3 is an assonometric view of the device of figure 1, still associated with a wireless display;
figure 4 is a side view of the device of figure 1 in application or use conditions;
figure 5 is a side view of the device of figure 1 associated with a stretch of spinal column of a person's human body;
figure 6 is an assonometric view partly sectioned (or truncated) of a second possible embodiment of the device of the invention;
figure 7 is the plan view of figure 6;
figure 8 is the view of figure 7 according to the section plane VIII-VIII;
figure 9 is the view of figure 7 according to the section plane IX-IX.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS OF THE CURRENT INVENTION

The invention will now be described with initial reference to figure 1, which shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention where the device to activate, stimulate or reinforce the cervical musculature is globally indicated as 10.
Such an innovative device 10 is especially designed to activate the cervical musculature and, according to the invention, includes an inner structure 30, made of rigid material, provided with a base wall 13 which faces (directly in this case, being arranged close to it) to a reference surface S (such as a bed or bench) on which an outer structure 20 made of soft material is arranged, whereby the outer structure 20 defines a support surface 22 having a development similar to a cylinder portion.
More properly, the support surface 22 mainly develops along a pre-established linear direction X and has a concave profile according to a section plane Y-Y (shown in figure 2a) orthogonal to the pre-established linear direction X.
In addition, the outer structure 20 has, according to a section plane A-A applied along the aforesaid pre-established linear direction X, a profile in the shape of a spherical or cylindrical cap (or also in the shape of a circular arc), as shown in figure 2b.
Moreover, both the outer structure 20 and the inner structure 30 have a symmetrical shape with respect to an axis passing through the section plane Y-Y.
Preferably but not necessarily, the support surface 22, intended to receive and support the cervical spine, has a substantially saddle conformation which allows an ideal adaptability of the device 10 of the invention to the area of the human body which includes the most prominent vertebrae (C0, occipital prominence, and spiny T1, first dorsal or thoracic vertebra), thus creating a circular zone of comfort around the two most sensitive cervical vertebrae identified, in anatomy, with C7 (last cervical vertebra, also known as prominent vertebra, placed in the lower cervical spine) and C0 (occipital prominence or occiput).
In order to fit most patients, the sizes of the device 10 of the invention have been deduced by examining biometric statistics and performing anthropometric measurements of the distance between C0 cervical vertebra and C7 cervical vertebra on a large sample of cervical spine of various people.
More specifically, it should be noted that the support of the cervical spine R of patient P has been one of the elements that has required a more deep study for the purposes claimed herein exclusively, since the sizes of the cervical spine R itself are very variable from person to person, especially from adult to child.
The device 10 of the invention has a curved profile, both according to the section plane A-A and according to the section plane Y-Y, which approaches the average of the persons examined and which develops along the pre-established linear direction X for a length equal to about 200 mm, thus adapting to the cervical lordosis of a large number of patients.
The particular conformation of the soft part of the device 10 also ensures the correct posture to the remaining number of patients shorter than the average.
As for the taller patients, it is sufficient to add an additional thickness under the device of the invention, in the specific embodiment (indicated with 10) now described and commented.
In a preferred but not limiting manner, the device 10 of the present invention envisages that the inner structure 30 and the outer structure 20 have in plan the same profile and the same overall dimensions, while, in cross section, made according to the aforesaid pre-established linear direction X, have different profiles that are mutually combined, complementary or interpenetrating, with the advantages that this entails, already mentioned above.
The invention device 10 is shaped in such a way that a central portion 12 of the outer structure 20 has a thickness lower than the thickness of two peripheral portions 14, 16 of such an outer structure 20 side-by-side or placed laterally to the central portion 12.
Correspondingly, the inner structure 30 has a central portion 38 having a greater thickness than the thickness of two side portions 34, 36 of the inner structure 30 side-by-side or placed laterally to the central portion 38.
Moreover, as it can be seen in particular in figures 1, 2b and 3, in the device 10 of the present invention the outer structure 20 is complementary to the inner structure 30 and is arranged above it in such a way as to form a shaped element suitable to act as a cushion for the cervical spine R of a patient P (see figure 4 in this respect).
In other words, the peripheral portions 14, 16 of the outer structure 20 perfectly match the side portions 34, 36 of the inner structure 30, the former having a convex profile which is combined by curvature with the concave profile of the latter.
The invention device 10 is, thus, sized to develop between the cervical vertebra C7 and the occipital area, i.e. the nape, of the patient's P cervical spine R.
As it can be in some ways deduced from figure 5, in the central part of the device 10, when used by the patient P, the vertebrae C3-C4 of the cervical spine R of the patient P rest and the resultant of the force generated by the contraction of the deep flexor musculature through the cervical spine R is discharged: the intensity and/or direction of such a force are detected by the force transducer 37 which, according to the invention, represents an essential component of the device 10. Particularly, the force transducer 37 is in this case preferably coupled to the central portion 38 of the inner structure 30.
In a preferred but not exclusive manner, the force transducer 37 is hidden from view and is arranged in simple support on the upper surface 38a of the central portion 38 of the inner structure 30 and kept in position by the pressure deriving from the coupling between the outer structure 20 and the inner structure 30 itself. Alternative embodiments of the device of the invention, not shown in the following, could provide that the at least one force transducer is housed in a respective transverse groove made in the upper surface of the central portion of the inner structure (and, therefore, facing the lower surface of the central portion of the external structure) or drowned in a respective transverse through opening made in the central portion of the inner structure itself.
More in detail, the force transducer 37 advantageously comprises a partially deformable or elastically yielding metallic sheet (made for example of aluminum).
The force transducer 37 is, furthermore, configured to be electrically connected to a remote controller 40 (such as for example a smartphone) available to said patient P and provided with a display and/or an acoustic device, as shown in figures 1 and 3.
In particular, the display 42 more appropriately provides a graphical interface (such as a specific application installed on a smartphone) or, less frequently, a plurality of (non-visible) LEDs which can light up in a manner proportional to the intensity of the force detected by the force transducer 37.
Alternatively or in conjunction with the signals emitted by the display 42, acoustic signals emitted by an acoustic alarm can be used. In this way, the patient P can independently and directly follow the treatment plan assigned to him by the doctor or physiotherapist.
In turn, the remote controller 40 is a programmable electronic device equipped with a display 42 which, thanks to appropriate instructions and algorithms, identifies the probable muscular deficits correlated with the cervicalgia or headache of the patient P: if patient P falls within the types that can be treated with the aforesaid device 10 of the invention, the remote controller 40 itself proposes a series of exercises aimed at alleviating if not eliminating the pain of the patient P. Suitably, the outer structure 20 is stably coupled to the inner structure 30 through junction means, for the sake of presentation convenience or simplicity not shown in the attached figures.
At preferred but not binding title, these junction means comprise any of the stable structural connection systems selected from the group consisting of gluing substances (preferred solution), interlocking elements, snap-fit elements, bayonet coupling elements and the like.
In particular, the junction means provided by the device 10 of the invention are hidden from view and make the inner structure 30 and the outer structure 20 totally integral with each other, without defining any degree of freedom between them: in substance, the device 10 of the present invention does not provide any relative motion of the inner structure with respect to the outer structure 20 and vice versa, also depending on the fact that, under operating conditions, the device 10 of the invention takes a static, fixed position.
It is therefore clear that the described device has at least two functions, that is to provide support to the patient P during the exercise of strengthening the cervical spine R, and to detect the correct performance of the exercise itself.
According to another embodiment of the invention, given without explanatory figures, the device to activate the cervical musculature includes four force transducers arranged at different points of the central portion of the inner structure and/or of the outer structure, so that to better detect (i.e. measure) intensity and/or direction of the force applied to the device itself by the cervical spine.
In the case of such a more elaborate version of the device of the invention, a suitable software associated with the device can also indicate the direction in which the forces develop, for example during retropulsion exercises, in such a way as to guide the patient in the correct implementation of the therapeutic programs. Figure 6 shows one of the possible embodiments of the invention, in which the device to activate the cervical musculature, now indicated as a whole with 100, differs from that one described above especially for the plan profile, a direct consequence, however, of the different process with which devices 1 and 100 are designed (both however obtained by injection molding).
Indeed, the shape of the first version, already described, of the device of the invention - shown in figures 1-5 and indicated with 1 - is similar to an extruded surface, while the second version, now under description, of the device of the invention - shown in figures 6-9 and indicated with 100 - is comparable to the same surface ideally rotated around an axis perpendicular to the base support.
Specifically, in the device 100, the outer structure 120 has:

a substantially ellipsoid profile, in plan view, as shown in figure 7;
a cross section always identical to itself, whatever the position of the plane according to which this cut is made, as at least partly shown by figures 8 and 9;
two bearing surfaces 122, 123, one arranged along the major semi-axis K of the substantially ellipsoid profile and the other one arranged along the minor semi-axis W also of such a substantially ellipsoid profile.

In particular, along the major semi-axis K the device 100 extends for a length of approximately 200 mm while along the minor semi-axis W the device 100 extends for a length of approximately 180 mm.
This allows to consider the device 100 of the invention as an improvement of the device 1 described above, being usable for the aims to which it is provided advantageously by any type of patient P, whether adult or child and regardless of his height: particularly, where the patient P is an adult or in any case of high stature, he lays his head on the device 100 oriented with the semi-major axis K parallel to the cervical spine R of the patient P, while if the patient P is a child or anyway a person of low stature, it simply rotates the device, for example, by 90° by orienting its minor semi-axis W parallel to the cervical spine R of patient P. Similar to the device 100, both the outer structure 120 and the inner structure 130 have a symmetrical shape with respect to, in this case, an axis passing through any section plane orthogonal to the pre-established linear direction X along which the bearing surfaces 122, 123 develop.
It is advisable to be followed by a medical health professional (such as for instance a physiotherapist) at least in the first approach to the device 10 or 100 of the present invention, so that the patient P can be correctly and effectively instructed in the use of the device 10 which he will be able to practice independently and in any place or environment: this stimulates the patient P to a repetitive and constant use which greatly increases its effectiveness.
The high sensitivity of such a device 10 of the present invention requires a correct positioning on the patient's body P.
By virtue of the description just provided, it is therefore understood that the device to activate, stimulate, reinforce or even train the cervical musculature of the present invention achieves the purposes and reaches the advantages mentioned above.
It has therefore been found that the device of the invention, in the embodiments described or in any case included in the enclosed claim 1, allows the patient to perform the exercise of reinforcing his cervical musculature in a more effective, controlled and precise manner than what offered by the devices of the known art comparable to it - even if remotely -, mostly often adjusted for the purpose.
This is also due to the fact that the device of the invention includes, in a preferred and subordinate way, a remote controller available to the patient through which he autonomously and constantly monitors the progress of the exercise he is carrying out with the device itself which, in the reinforcement treatment of the cervical musculature, is found to be more effective than a drug and/or a manipulation.
The device of the present invention is a more scientific and more intelligent tool compared to the devices of the current state of the art comparable - even if remotely, it's reiterated - to it, and its operation is more easily understandable and more intuitive for the patient, so that, in return, it is also easier for the doctor, the physiotherapist or any health worker to instruct the patient to use it independently. As yet highlighted above, this aspect is reflected in a further stimulus for the patient to constantly, continuously if not daily (as indeed physiotherapists recommend) the device of the present invention and to make the activation exercise of the cervical musculature to get its advantageous reinforcement more frequent, to all the benefit of the effectiveness of the exercise itself. Physiotherapists to whom, during the development phase, a sample of the device of the invention was presented have shown that simply resting on this device, at rest, creates an elongation of the patient's cervical spine, causing relief to these. Beyond to the advantages yet highlighted, the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention is also more easily transportable and movable, even by a single user and without any effort, with respect to the devices comparable to it and belonging to the closest known technique, shown at example in the prior document published with US6,648,838 B1 .
Furthermore, the device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention generally and appropriately provides the active intervention of the patient, contrary to what occurs in the prior art available, shown for instance in document WO 2006/097921 A2 which exploits an opposite technical principle to that one of the present invention by providing a continuous movement of the patient's neck but impressed on it by the motorized or saddle-shaped head support.
Upon execution, changes could be made to the innovative device to activate the cervical musculature of the invention, consisting, for example, in a number of force transducers different from that one shown before, this number being able to vary according to the construction choices and/or application needs starting from one. In addition, in alternative and optional embodiments of the device of the invention, not shown in the attached drawings, the at least one force transducer could be coupled to the central portion of both the outer structure and the inner structure or only to the central portion of the outer structure, contrary to the embodiments described above where such a force transducer is coupled only to the central portion of the inner structure.
In such further cases, the type of coupling of the force transducer to the respective components of the device of the invention could be the same as that one previously described for the force transducer numbered with 37.
It is, finally, clear that several other changes could be made to the device to activate the cervical musculature concerned, without departing from the principle of novelty intrinsic in the inventive idea expressed herein, as it is clear that, in the practical implementation of the invention, materials, shapes and sizes of the illustrated details could be changed, as needed, and replaced with others technically equivalent.
Where the constructive features and techniques mentioned in the following claims are followed by reference numbers or signs, those reference signs have been introduced with the sole objective of increasing the intelligibility of the claims themselves and therefore they have no limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified, by way of example only, by these reference signs.

Claims

Device (10; 100) to activate or reinforce the cervical musculature characterized in that it comprises:
- an inner structure (30; 130) made of rigid material and provided with a base wall (13) suitable to face a reference surface (S);

- an outer structure (20; 120) made of soft material, arranged above said inner structure (30; 130), to which is coupled through junction means, and defining at least one support surface (22; 122, 123) which:
• is able to receive and support the cervical spine (R) of a patient (P);

• mainly develops along a pre-established linear direction (X);

• has a concave profile according to a cut plane (Y-Y) orthogonal to said pre-established linear direction (X);

- at least one force transducer (37) coupled to a central portion (12, 38) of said outer structure (20; 120) and/or of said inner structure (30; 130) and suitable to detect the intensity and/or the direction of the force applied to said support surface (22; 122, 123) by said cervical spine (R) of said patient (P).
Device (10; 100) according to claim 1), characterized in that said outer structure (20; 120) presents, according to a cut plane applied along said pre-established linear direction (X), a profile in the shape of a spherical or cylindrical cap.
Device (10; 100) according to claim 1) or 2), characterized in that said concave profile of said support surface (22; 122, 123) for said cervical spine (R) of said patient (P) is substantially saddle-shaped.
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said inner structure (30; 130) and said outer structure (20; 120) present in plan the same profile and the same overall dimensions and in transverse section, made according to said pre-established linear direction (X), mutually different, conjugated, complementary o interpenetrating profiles.
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the thickness of said central portion (12) of said outer structure (20; 120) is smaller than the thickness of two peripheral portions (14, 16) of said outer structure (20; 120) side-by-side said central portion (12).
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the thickness of said central portion (38) of said inner structure (30; 130) is greater than the thickness of two side portions (34, 36) of said inner structure (30; 130) side-by-side said central portion (38).
Device (10; 100) according to claim 6) when dependent on claim 5), characterized in that said peripheral portions (14, 16) of said outer structure (20; 120) match said side portions (34, 36) of said inner structure (30; 130).
Device (10; 100) according to claim 1), characterized in that said junction means comprise any of the stable structural connection systems chosen from the group consisting of gluing substances, interlocking elements, snap-fit elements, bayonet-coupling elements and similar.
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said junction means are hidden from view and make said inner structure (30; 130) and said outer structure (20; 120) totally integral without defining any degree of freedom between them.
Device (100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said outer structure (120) presents:
• a substantially ellipsoid profile, in plan view;

• a cross section always identical to itself, regardless the position of the plane according to which said cut is performed;

• two bearing surfaces (122, 123), one arranged along the major semi-axis (K) of said substantially ellipsoid profile and the other one arranged along the minor axis (W) of said substantially ellipsoidal profile.
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said at least one force transducer (37) is hidden from view and is arranged in said inner structure (30; 130).
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said at least one force transducer (37) comprises a partially deformable or elastically yielding metallic sheet.
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that it includes four force transducers (37) arranged at different points of said central portion (12, 38) of said outer structure (20; 120) and/or said inner structure (30; 130).
Device (10; 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that it comprises a remote controller (40) at said patient's (P) disposal, electrically connected with said force transducer (37) and provided with a display (42) and/or an acoustic signal.
Device (10; 100) according to claim 14), characterized in that said display (42) provides a graphic interface or a plurality of LEDs suitable to be illuminated proportionally to the intensity of the force exerted on said support surface (22; 122, 123) and detected by said force transducer (37).