FR2778099A1 - DEVICE FOR CORRECTING DISORDERS DUE TO IMBALANCES OF THE POSTURAL TONIC SYSTEM - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for correcting disorders caused by the tonic postural system imbalance, characterised in that it consists in arranging opposite at least one reflex zone of the foot, a reflecting and diffusing surface (2) in said foot support structure (S). Preferably, said reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is smooth and silvery whereof the wavelength varies in the visible spectrum from violet to red. The invention also concerns at least a device for implementing the method for correcting disorders caused by the tonic postural system imbalance.

Description

The present invention relates to the medical field and more particularly

  correcting disorders due to

  imbalances in the postural tonic system.

  The postural tonic system is a neurological unit comprising various exteroceptive sensors such as the foot, the eye, the skin, the manducatory apparatus as well as the integrating centers such as the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the basal nuclei such as the caudate nucleus. , the putamen, the pallidum, the red nucleus, the bulbar olive and the upper centers, in particular the prefrontal cortex and its associative areas. All of these sensors and these nerve centers are linked together by bundles of motor nerves to form together the extrapyramidal system which permanently regulates our erected station. The postural tonic system integrates the extrapyramidal system which is motor and the neurological system of proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensitivity. He receives an influence

  of the inner ear and the cerebellum.

  The action of the postural tonic system is permanently anti-gravitational and regulates the movement which it prepares, triggers, supports, stops and for which it serves as a counter-support. It is the compulsory regulator of the

pyramid scheme.

  When all the exteroceptors function harmoniously, the erected station and the movements are ensured without fault and without abnormal constraint. We can then see on a standing subject, that: - from the front, it is perfectly balanced and symmetrical with bipupillary, biacromial, bistyloid, bimamelonnary, biiliac lines perfectly horizontal, - in profile, the plane of the shoulders and the gluteus plane - 2 are aligned, with harmonious cervical and lumbar curves, of four and three transverse respectively

  subject's fingers relative to the alignment plane.

  When an exteroceptive sensor is functionally deficient, the whole postural tone is affected, forcing the other sensors to adapt their functioning to ensure the erected station. Postural imbalances then appear by rotations and rockers of the scapular and pelvic belts in the frontal and horizontal planes, by a modification of the alignment of the plane of the buttocks and shoulders, in the sagittal plane and by a modification of the lumbar and cervical curvatures. These postural imbalances cause abnormal stresses on the intervertebral discs, the posterior articulations of the vertebrae, the joints of the shoulders, hips, knees, feet, at the origin of functional joint pain by stress pathology. The foot is the terminal buffer of the postural tonic system: it receives all the constraints from the top to which it adapts at first, before settling in a static and abnormal dynamic, becoming in turn generator of constraints. It is then necessary to use plantar orthoses to treat the foot and the postural chains of the extrapyramidal system which are attached to it. At present, there are different designs of soles to treat a foot pod defect or an imbalance

posture.

  The oldest is the classic orthopedic sole which uses a basic support on which reliefs are arranged, for example supinator or pronator wedges, a retrocapital bar etc., with a thickness varying from 0.5 to 1.5 cm. A variant of these

  soles is one-piece thermoforming.

  -3- More recent is the proprioceptive sole of Doctor Bourdiol which uses on a base support small reliefs less than 3 mm thick arranged opposite the reflex zones of the foot. The action of these soles is of the reflex type.

  The action of these two soles is mechanical.

  The stimulation sole of Doctor Bricot of a different design because it uses on a basic leather support, a pair of crossed "Polaroid" plates arranged opposite a central reflex zone of the foot at the height of the arch of the foot. The action of these soles is linked to the use of MPolaroid plates "which locally modify the magnetic field perceived by the

foot sensors.

  The SYNERGIA sole by Messrs. Pautrot, Cron and Abribat (Canada) uses wave-activated crystals in a thin layer distributed between the support band of the sole and its covering band which emit a magnetic field. These two soles have an emissive power by generating

  or by modifying an electromagnetic field.

  The podiatric device proposed by Doctor Marignan includes a flexible optical filter of the gelatin type used in photography which is inserted in a sole opposite the reflex zone of the plant or

the forefoot.

  The action of this device is limited to a frequency

emitted by the subject.

  Doctor Marignan also proposed a second electromagnetic device for skin stimulation by absorption of electromagnetic energy external to

  device made up of passive electronic components.

  This device can be included in a device

  podiatry known to modify muscle tone.

  The last four energy devices set out above have the particularity of delivering energy information inherent to the device used, on the reflex zones of the foot, without taking into account the state of

  neurological functioning of the extrapyramidal system.

  The problem posed is that of permanently regulating the muscular tone of the subject according to his activity and his own neuromuscular state without the correction device over-correcting or sub-correcting

this state.

  On the basis of these observations, the applicant carried out research which led to a new concept for the correction of disorders due to imbalances in the postural tonic system, making it possible to remedy the drawbacks of the above-mentioned devices, taking into account in particular the neurological functioning state of the system

extrapyramidal.

  To achieve such an objective, the applicant has devised a remarkable correction method in that it consists in having, opposite at least one reflex zone of the foot, a reflecting and diffusing surface in the

support structure of said foot.

  The presence of this reflecting and diffusing surface in the support structure of the foot opposite one or more reflex zones thereof, offers many advantages and among these: - the absence of its own emissivity, therefore not active, - referral to the subject of the electromagnetic waves it emits, by diffusing and reflecting the incident rays. This process using a reflecting and diffusing surface is original in that it does not have its own energetic activity but behaves like a reflector of waves emitted by the human body, which completely differentiates it from other methods of correcting tone. neuro-muscular above mentioned. His action

  is neurological and energetic, without orthopedic action.

  -5- It acts by reflection and by diffusion of the electromagnetic waves only emitted by the feet of the

subject to the ground.

  The podiatric process according to the invention rebalances the functioning of the exteroceptive and proprioceptive receptors which are the sensitive starting point of

  extrapyramidal chains. There is no risk of over-

  correction or under-correction of the postural tonic system which is self-correcting, the podiatric process remaining neutral if the postural tonic system functions normally. According to a variant of the process of the invention, the above reflecting and diffusing surface is smooth and silvery or with a color whose wavelength

  varies in the visible spectrum from purple to red.

  The originality of this podiatric process is to use a reflecting and diffusing surface whose active principle is notably its color and its quality of roughness. Any smooth colored inert screen will have an action on the posture whose effect depends on its reflecting and diffusing power, therefore in particular on the color and the more or less smooth nature of the surface,

  of its location in relation to the reflex zones of the foot.

  According to another variant of the method of the invention, several reflecting and diffusing surfaces are arranged juxtaposed or separated, facing at least one reflex zone of the foot, in one or more layers

of the support structure of the foot.

  This reflecting and diffusing surface can, depending on the method of manufacturing the support structure, be inserted, fixed or embedded in the support structure of the foot. The invention also relates to devices making it possible to implement the method for correcting

the invention.

  Thus, according to a first embodiment, the support structure of the foot in which the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface is disposed, facing at least one reflex zone of the foot, is constituted by an independent sole slipping into a shoe consisting of a support strip and a cover strip. According to a second embodiment, the support structure of the foot in which the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface is disposed, facing at least one reflex zone of the foot, is constituted by the sole

first of a shoe.

  The above reflecting and diffusing surface can also advantageously be arranged in a part of

  sole: either in a half sole, or in three-

  quarter sole, or in a central part of a sole. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the

  reading of the description below giving, as

  non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of a sole for correcting disorders due to imbalances in the tonic system

  postural, using the method of the invention.

  In these drawings: Figure 1 is a top view of such a sole. Figure 2 is a sectional view of the drawing of the

figure 1.

  As illustrated in the drawings, the sole of the invention, referenced S as a whole, comprises a support strip 1 on which is fixed, at the height of the reflex zone or zones of the subject's foot, at least one surface provided with a reflecting power 2, the whole being

  covered by a cover strip 3.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the invention given by way of illustration, the aforesaid reflective and diffusing surface 2 is produced from a plastic sheet of approximately 1 mm thick, cut to the dimensions suitable for being incorporated in the sole forming the support structure of the foot. The cut part becomes a template which is then placed in a steel frame, with dimensions slightly larger than those of the template and 5 mm high. The assembly is placed on a heating plate and brought to the melting point of the plastic used for the time necessary for the surface of the template in contact with the heating plate to become perfectly

  smooth. After complete cooling, the frame assembly-

  template is detached from the plate and the template out of its frame. The edges are trimmed with plastic drips and the template is then painted white, or silver or any other color whose wavelength varies throughout the visible spectrum from purple to red, by spraying. After these various manipulations, the template became a surface endowed with a reflecting power. It is fixed on the sole support strip 1 opposite one or more reflex zones of the foot, the smooth surface obtained by contact with the heating plate being turned towards the subject's foot. The band

  cover 3 is assembled to the strip assembly-

  support, reflector by gluing, heat sealing or all

  another process known to those skilled in the art.

  According to other embodiments of the invention, the reflecting and diffusing surface can be obtained: - from a white photographic reflector of the "colormatt" type from & Kodakaqui will be arranged as

previously in the sole.

  - in another material made smooth and white, silver or a color whose wavelength varies throughout the visible spectrum from purple to red: for example the material is paper, cardboard,

aluminum, gold, silver.

  Likewise, several reflecting and diffusing surfaces, of different or identical colors, can be arranged under different reflex zones of the foot. The support structure of the foot can also be a multilayer sole composed of several elements made of known materials, assembled together in superposed layers by bonding, heat-sealing or any other technique. The advantage of using a reflecting and diffusing surface according to the method according to the invention is that it does not require any particular condition of use: the sole comprising this surface can be slipped into a shoe and used under a sock or tights without losing its

  efficiency, and requires no special maintenance.

  The results obtained by the process according to the invention are surprising. Instantly, a change in the subject's posture tone is obtained which tends to return significantly to a normal balance. A double-blind study was carried out in order to compare the sole according to the invention with a placebo device of identical appearance. This study consisted in measuring: - from the front, the rockers of the shoulders and the pelvis and the deviation of the navel-axis of the nose from the vertical, - in profile, the alignment of the plane of the shoulders and

  buttocks and arrows of the cervical and lumbar curvatures.

  This study has shown that a subject with a shoulder or pelvis tilt or both shoulders and pelvis, sees these rockers tend towards the horizontal

  when wearing the sole of the invention.

-9 -

Claims (10)

  1. Device for correcting disorders due to imbalances in the postural tonic system, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT it is constituted by the support structure (S) of the foot comprising a reflecting and diffusing surface (2) arranged opposite at least one area reflex of said foot.   2. Device according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is smooth with a color whose wavelength varies in the visible spectrum from purple to red. 3. Device according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforesaid reflecting surface and diffusing (2) is silver.   4. Device according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is inserted in the support structure (S) of the foot.   5. Device according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is fixed in the support structure (S) of the foot. 6. Device according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is embedded in the support structure (S) of the foot.   7. Device according to any one of   claims 1 to 6, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the   said support structure (S) of the foot comprises, opposite at least one reflex zone of the foot, several reflecting and diffusing surfaces (S) juxtaposed or separated in one or more layers of the support structure (S) of the foot.   8. Device according to any one of   claims 1 to 7, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the - 10 -   support structure (S) of the foot in which the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is arranged, facing at least one reflex zone of the foot, consists of an independent sole (S) slipping into a shoe and5 consisting of a support strip (1) and a cover strip (3)   9. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the   support structure (S) of the foot in which the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is arranged, facing at least one reflex zone of the foot, is constituted by the   first sole (S) of a shoe.   10. Device according to claim 8 or 9, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforesaid reflecting and diffusing surface (2) is arranged in a sole part (S): either in a half sole, or   in three-quarter sole, or in a central part of a sole.