Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F7/00—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body
  • A61F7/0053—Cabins, rooms, chairs or units for treatment with a hot or cold circulating fluid
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F7/00—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body
  • A61F2007/0059—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body with an open fluid circuit
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F7/00—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body
  • A61F2007/0059—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body with an open fluid circuit
  • A61F2007/0063—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body with an open fluid circuit for cooling
  • A61F2007/0064—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body with an open fluid circuit for cooling of gas
  • A61F2007/0065—Causing evaporation
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F7/00—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body
  • A61F2007/0059—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body with an open fluid circuit
  • A61F2007/0069—Heating or cooling appliances for medical or therapeutic treatment of the human body with an open fluid circuit with return means

Definitions

• the present invention is in the field of cryotherapy cabins.
• cryotherapy refers to medical, aesthetic or well-being techniques or procedures consisting of localized or generalized treatment of the body at low temperatures.
• This cold therapy uses a cold gas of carbon dioxide C0 2 or nitrogen N 2 type and allows, using cold:
• cryotherapy cabin In known manner, for a whole-body treatment in gas cryotherapy, that is to say for the part of the body going from the soles of the feet to the top of the shoulders, the person is placed in a closed cabin called “cryotherapy cabin” "Cryotherapy chamber”, “cryogenic chamber” or
• cryosauna This cryotherapy cabin is connected to a cold source generally consisting of an external nitrogen container under pressure.
• a cold source generally consisting of an external nitrogen container under pressure.
• the pressurized nitrogen is evaporated, then transferred and injected into the cryotherapy booth to cool to the treatment temperature.
• the person will then be in contact with the nitrogen gas, that is to say at temperatures between -70 ° C and 150 ° C, preferably - 110 ° C and - 150 ° C maximum for 3 min. This person contact / nitrogen gas is the treatment.
• liquid nitrogen is kept in a tank under a pressure of 4 to 7 Bars. Then the pressurized liquid nitrogen is evaporated on contact with a stream of air using a fan. In order for the evaporation to take place, the air stream must have a flow rate and a temperature sufficient for the transformation into gas, in contact with the liquid nitrogen under pressure, to occur. Therefore, in known devices, a large fan and a power 3 to 600 Watts is often necessary.
• the size of the power fans 3 to 600 Watts is often substantial, therefore a corresponding space must be available to receive it near the cryotherapy cabin.
• the power of these fans is such that its operating noise can be disturbing and stressful for the person being treated. Indeed, during treatment, the person can hear and hear deafening noise of the rotational movement of the fan blades generating the air stream, which can destabilize.
• the present existing devices require a consumption of 5 to 7 L of liquid nitrogen under pressure between 4 and 7 Bars to treat a person.
• this volume of liquid nitrogen under pressure in stock only about 65% of the liquid nitrogen under pressure will actually be evaporated, the other non-evaporated part constituting a pure loss.
• Existing devices are therefore not suitable to avoid nitrogen losses.
• the liquid nitrogen container is connected to an evaporation tank of a cryotherapy cabin by a piping device. In the container, the nitrogen is kept under pressure between 4 and 7 Bars and it is necessary to proceed to a degassing step to decrease the pressure before transferring the nitrogen to the evaporation tank. This leads to a loss of gas, so a significant economic cost.
• the means for conveying the evaporated nitrogen further increase the risk of possible nitrogen loss between the liquid nitrogen container and the treatment bath where the person is.
• document FR 2 981 268 discloses a gas cryotherapy device comprising
• At least one cryotherapy chamber At least one cryotherapy chamber
• At least one evaporation tank of said liquid in gas at least one intermediate tank connected to said storage tank and to the evaporation tank.
• This device which has at least three tanks, has several disadvantages.
• the three tanks, necessary for operation, are bulky and take up space.
• the apparatus of the prior art has a number of disadvantages which must be remedied. Indeed, it is necessary to find a cryotherapy cabin that is both compact, non-noisy and with a production yield of maximum cryogenic flow to optimize the overall operation of said cabin.
• the object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the state of the art by proposing a cryotherapy device comprising a treatment cabin. of a person, said cabin being connected to a system for producing and transporting a cryogenic fluid, said system comprising:
• At least one storage tank for a pressurized cryogenic liquid supplying, via means for diffusing said liquid, an evaporation duct opening through gas diffusion means into said treatment cabin.
• the liquid under pressure is transformed into gas within the evaporation duct and then injected into the treatment booth to reach and treat the person.
• said system consists of a storage tank for a pressurized cryogenic liquid supplying, via a means of diffusion of said liquid, an evaporation conduit opening, through means gas diffusion in said treatment cabin.
• the circuit for conveying nitrogen to the treatment cabin is both a direct nitrogen transport circuit, a nitrogen chemical transformation circuit and a temperature rise circuit to a temperature acceptable to the patient.
• the transformation efficiency of the liquid nitrogen into gas diffused into the treatment booth is at least greater than or equal to 90%.
• Said system also comprises means for circulating the cryogenic fluid, having upstream heating means and downstream said evaporation duct.
• said storage tank comprises a cryogenic liquid maintained at a pressure of between 1 and 1.5 bar.
• This low pressure has the advantage of facilitating the storage but also the transfer of the liquid under pressure to the duct where the evaporation reaction will take place. Indeed, during the transfer of the liquid under pressure to said conduit, the opening of the storage tank causes degassing causing loss of liquid. The higher the tank pressure, the greater the losses when opening for transfer. Thus, in order to limit the losses when opening the storage tank for the transfer of the liquid, the pressure has been minimized to the maximum. It has been specifically found that a pressure of between 1 and 1.5 bars makes it possible to transfer and evaporate at least 90% of the cryogenic liquid within the conduit.
• said evaporation duct extending from said at least one storage tank to said gas diffusion means, has a narrowing.
• the presence of a narrowing of the dimensions of said evaporation duct promotes the evaporation reaction.
• the shrinkage thus increases the transformation efficiency of the cryogenic liquid, introduced into said conduit, into a cryogenic gas that can be used to treat the person within the treatment cabin.
• cryogenic liquid consists of liquid nitrogen under pressure at 1 or 1.5 bar
• said heating means consist of at least one resistor.
• cryotherapy device of the invention According to other additional features of the cryotherapy device of the invention:
• said means for circulating the cryogenic fluid comprise at least one fan
• said fan is an action fan with a power of between 55 and 70 Watts.
• the power of the fan can be further reduced by being between 30 and 70 watts.
• Said fan has the advantage of operating at a power in Watt low, so to limit the energy consumption necessary for the operation of the cryotherapy device.
• the fan in operation makes it possible to generate both the circulation of the cryogenic fluid within the device and to contribute to the evaporation reaction. Indeed, the air stream leaving the fan coming into contact with the cryogenic liquid under pressure will allow its evaporation gas.
• said treatment cabin comprises at least one cryogenic gas suction opening present within said treatment cabin, said at least one suction opening opening on a gas recovery conduit present within said treatment cabin;
• said heating means are integrated within said recovery duct so as to increase in temperature the cryogenic gas passing through said recovery duct;
• said circulation means are positioned at the intersection between the recovery duct and the evaporation duct, and are intended to draw gas from said treatment booth through the suction openings in order to return it to said duct; 'evaporation.
• the presence of the heating means upstream of the circulation means makes it possible to heat the cryogenic fluid upstream of the circulation means and thus to avoid the formation of possible frost on the blades of the fan that can block their operation.
• the heating means are put into operation and the cryogenic liquid supply under pressure is stopped to allow the fluid circulating in the device of warm up and de-ice the means of circulation.
• the system for producing and transporting the cryogenic fluid is a semi-closed circuit which limits the maximum loss of cryogenic fluid.
• the gas injected into the treatment booth is recycled.
• the recycled gas contributes to the evaporation reaction transforming the liquid under pressure at the outlet of the gas diffusion means intended to be used to treat the person.
• said transformation / evaporation conduit comprises means for receiving the cryogenic liquid under pressure intended to recover the cryogenic liquid under unvaporated pressure within said transformation conduit. / evaporation.
• the cryotherapy device of the invention makes it possible to reduce the energy consumption, to avoid noise nuisances necessary for its operation while limiting the consumption of cryogenic liquid necessary for the treatment of a person by an increase in the evaporation efficiency. said liquid.
• the cryotherapy device therefore has an economic advantage for the users.
• FIG. 1 shows schematically a view of the cryotherapy device of the invention.
• the present invention relates to a cryotherapy device 1 comprising a treatment booth 2 of a person 3, as illustrated in FIG.
• said treatment cabin 2 comprises an access door for the entry and exit of a person 3 and an opening on the top to hold the head of the patient. the person 3 outside said treatment cabin 2.
• Said processing cabin 2 is connected to a production and transport system 4 for a cryogenic fluid 5.
• Said cryogenic fluid 5 may be, for example, a gas, in particular of the N 2 dinitrogen type; CO 2 carbon dioxide; or 02 oxygen, or any of the possible combinations. It should be noted that according to the invention, said cryogenic fluid 5 may be in different chemical states depending on its position and its displacement within the system 4. For example, said cryogenic fluid 5 may be in the form of cryogenic liquid under pressure or in the form of gas.
• said system 4 comprises at least one storage tank 6 of a cryogenic liquid under pressure.
• cryogenic liquid under pressure is understood to mean the cryogenic fluid 5 having predominantly a liquid form and which is contained in said reservoir 6.
• said cryogenic liquid under pressure consists of nitrogen stored in liquid form at a temperature ⁇ -196 ° C within the storage tank 6. Nevertheless, because of the pressure inside the storage tank Part of this nitrogen may be in the form of nitrogen gas.
• Said storage tank 6 consists for example of a tank of 20 to 1000 L, preferably 2 to 4 L containing liquid nitrogen under pressure.
• Said storage tank 6 supplies, with said cryogenic liquid under pressure, an evaporation duct 7.
• Said cryogenic liquid under pressure can, after an evaporation reaction, be transformed into a gas circulating in said system 4, in particular within said evaporation duct 7.
• Diffusion means 8 of said liquid, at the outlet of the storage tank 6, make it possible to feed said evaporation pipe 7 with said cryogenic liquid under pressure.
• said diffusion means 8 consist of at least one jet nozzle of said cryogenic liquid under pressure within said evaporation pipe 7.
• said diffusion means 8 consist of a diffusion nozzle which will allow transfer of the liquid nitrogen under pressure from the storage tank 6 to the evaporation duct 7.
• Said evaporation duct 7 opens into said treatment booth 2 of a person 3.
• cryogenic fluid 5 in the form of a gas, present within the evaporation duct 7, will enter said cabin 2 to reach the person 3 and treat it.
• the passage and the displacement of the cryogenic fluid contained in said evaporation pipe 7 towards said cabin 2 is possible thanks to gas diffusion means 9.
• Said gas diffusion means 9 consist for example of at least one gas diffusion nozzle whose opening can be controlled by a valve system.
• said gas diffusion means 9 are positioned on the upper part of said treatment booth 2, so that the diffusion of the gas takes place at the level of the shoulders of the person 3.
• said system 4 also comprises means 10 for circulating the cryogenic fluid through the cryotherapy device 1.
• said fluid circulation means 10 comprise at least one centrifugal fan, preferably a three-phase centrifugal fan.
• Said circulation means 10 have the effect of transporting said cryogenic fluid 5 within the system 4 and to give it a direction of movement, represented by the arrows in FIG. 1.
• said fan-type circulation means 10 provide a stream of air within the evaporation duct 7. In contact with the cryogenic liquid under pressure at the outlet of the diffusion means 8, said air stream, which has a temperature> that of the cryogenic liquid under pressure, will allow the evaporation reaction, that is to say the transformation of the cryogenic liquid under pressure gas.
• said circulation means 10 in addition to transporting and giving a direction of circulation to the cryogenic fluid 5, will allow its change of chemical state by promoting the evaporation reaction.
• said fan Centrifugal is of a power between 55 and 70 Watts, preferably 60 Watts.
• said operating noise of the cryotherapy device 1 of the invention is reduced compared to the devices of the prior art which use power fans of the order of 600 Watts.
• the device 1 has the advantage of operating by reducing as much as possible the power required by the circulation means 10 for carrying out the evaporation reaction, that is to say the transformation of the liquid into a cryogenic gas, while decreasing the operating noise.
• said fan is a three-phase centrifugal fan with action, that is to say that it has vanes inclined towards the front.
• the inclination forward of the blades has the advantage in a humid environment of limiting the attachment of the water molecules on the blades.
• the risk of creating frost on the blades is reduced by the lack of fixation of the water molecules.
• said fan is provided with several flat blades, wide and spaced apart.
• Flat blades have the advantage of sliding cryogenic gas molecules, especially water, to avoid their attachment to the surface of the blades thus preventing the formation of ice on the blades at temperatures at 0 ° C, which are the circulation temperatures of the cryogenic fluid 5 within the device 1.
• the ice pick up of the blades during operation of the cryotherapy device 1 is not possible.
• the spacing of the blades between them allows a good circulation of the cryogenic fluid 5 through said fan, which however retains its circulation action of the cryogenic fluid 5 favored by the width of the blades.
• Said production and transport system 4 of said cryogenic fluid also comprises, upstream of said circulation means 10, heating means 11. These are present within a recovery conduit 12.
• Said heating means 11 consist, for example, of a heating resistor. Such a resistance has for example a power of the order of 1 Watt.
• Said heating means 11 make it possible to raise the temperature within the recovery duct 12, thus raising the temperature of the fluid circulating within the recovery duct 12.
• the recovery duct 12 opens onto the evaporation duct 7, said circulation means 10 of the cryogenic fluid 5 within the system 4 are positioned at the junction of the recovery duct 12 with the duct Evaporation 7.
• said heating means 11 being upstream of the circulation means 10, the gas, circulating in the recovery duct 12 and passing through the circulation means 10, has a temperature> that of the cryogenic liquid injected into the evaporation duct 7.
• the heating of the gas flowing in the recovery duct 12 has the effect, at the same time, of contributing to the evaporation reaction which takes place downstream of the circulation means 10 and at the outlet of the diffusion means 8 of the liquid , but also to prevent frost formation on said circulation means 10.
• said recovery conduit 12 allows the recovery and circulation of the gas initially present in the treatment booth 2, for example after the treatment of a person 3.
• said treatment booth 2 comprises suction openings 13 for the gas still present in the treatment booth 2.
• These suction openings 13, opening onto the recovery duct 12, are intended to transport the gas from the treatment booth 2 to the heating means 11.
• the suction openings 13 allow a recycling of the gas initially present in the treatment booth 2.
• the operation of the circulation means 10 will allow the circulation of the cryogenic fluid 5 in the direction indicated by the arrows of FIG. 1.
• the suction of the gas through said suction openings 13 will take place, notably thanks to the movement of the blades of the fan positioned at the junction between the recovery duct 12 and the evaporation duct 7.
• the cryogenic fluid 5 flows from the storage tank 6 to the evaporation duct 7, then to reach the treatment booth 2 where the person 3 is located, then it is sucked through openings 13, to come into contact with the heating means 11 and go towards the circulation means 10 to finally return within the evaporation duct 7.
• the cryogenic fluid circulates within the device 1 according to the direction of movement indicated by the arrows.
• said storage tank 6 comprises a cryogenic liquid under pressure of between 1 and 1.5 bar, or between 0.2 and 1.5 bar, unlike the devices of the prior art where the cryogenic liquid under pressure is between 4 and 7 Bars.
• the pressure maintained in the storage tank 6 of the cryogenic liquid is minimal.
• the gas losses are limited.
• cryogenic liquid when opening the storage tank 6 because the pressure difference between said storage tank 6 and the evaporation duct 7 is low.
• the pressure management within the device 1 is optimized to limit the losses during degassing.
• limiting the losses of cryogenic liquid when the tank 6 is opened makes it possible to increase the transformation efficiency of the cryogenic liquid into cryogenic gas.
• the cryogenic liquid can directly enter the evaporation duct 7 and evaporate directly in contact with the hot air stream exiting the fan.
• a high conversion efficiency due to an initial low cryogenic liquid pressure, has the advantage of minimizing the amount of liquid needed to treat a person 3. As a result, the cryogenic liquid losses during the treatment procedure of a person 3 by cryotherapy are minimized.
• the non-transformed cryogenic liquid / evaporated gas in the evaporation pipe 7 is recovered, upstream of the gas diffusion means 9, using means for receiving said liquid.
• reception means allow the recovery and possible recycling of the non-evaporated cryogenic liquid within the evaporation duct 7.
• said evaporation pipe 7 has a narrowing of these dimensions between its part associated with the storage tank 6 up to its opening part. on the gas diffusion means 9 in the treatment booth 2.
• This narrowing of the evaporation duct 7, extending from the storage tank 6 to the gas diffusion means 9, accentuates the conversion of the cryogenic liquid into gas cryogenic, that is to say, promotes the evaporation reaction, increases the efficiency of transformation of the liquid into gas and decreases the losses of said cryogenic liquid.
• the part of the evaporation duct 7, which opens onto the gas diffusion means 9 within the treatment booth is at least twice as small as its part associated with the storage tank 6, so that that the evaporation of the nitrogen is done very quickly to have a conversion efficiency of at least 90% of the liquid nitrogen gas opening in the treatment cabin.
• the configuration and the means of the cryotherapy device 1 has the advantage of optimizing its operation by limiting the cryogenic fluid losses to a maximum, by reducing the general operating noise and by preventing the deposition of frost on the fan. This allows the cryotherapy device 1 to be able to chain the number of people who will undergo treatment in said treatment booth 2, limiting general operating and maintenance costs.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
• Vascular Medicine (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Degasification And Air Bubble Elimination (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=62091976

Family Applications (1)

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• 2017
  • 2017-12-18 FR FR1762361A patent/FR3075033B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2018
  • 2018-12-13 WO PCT/FR2018/000263 patent/WO2019122544A1/fr unknown
  • 2018-12-13 EP EP18833443.7A patent/EP3727250A1/de not_active Withdrawn

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