GB2214078A

GB2214078A - Germanium medical article

Info

Publication number: GB2214078A
Application number: GB8800522A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tamiji Matoba
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-01-18
Filing date: 1988-01-11
Publication date: 1989-08-31
Also published as: CA1323661C; FR2626181A1; GB8800522D0; DE3801782A1

Description

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TITLE OF THE INVENTION

MEDICAL ARTICLE COMPRISING GERMANIUM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION L Field of the Invention:

The invention relates to the medical art and more particularly, to medical articles comprising germanium which are used in contact with the skin so as to mitigate various symptons such as the stiffness in the shoulders, a crick in the back, a muscular pain and the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

As is well known in the art, germanium has wide utility in the field of electronics because of its semiconductive properties. It is also known since germanium has inherent characteristics caused by the characteristic atom structure, it acts electrically on a living body and can be utilized as a medical appliance or article for mitigating various symptons such as the stiffness of the shoulders, a crick in the back and muscular pain.

Germanium is an atom with an atomic number of 32 having 32 electrons with four electrons being provided at the outermost shell, one of which is very likely to set free. If this electron is liberated, the hole is produced in the outermost shell, so that there appears a property of attracting an electron from outside in order to filling up the hole. On the other hand, the nerve system of a living body is arranged such that a normal function is 1 maintained by the electric action involved in the living body. It is known that the potential of the respective cells in various affected parts of a living body becomes abnormal. When germanium of a suitable form is applied to an affected part, the pain or inflammation of the affected part is known to be cured.

Although the reason why germanium has the curing effect on the affected part is not fully known, the electric nature of the germanium such as an ion-generating effect-or a radical-eliminating effect in which H+ or OHis taken in and eliminated, would allow the exchange of electrons with the affected part. As a result, the abnormal potential at the affected part would be returned to a normal level, thus curing the diseases such as the inflammation.

For curing the pain or inflammation of affected parts, the use of germanium has been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-481.6. In this patent publication, a contact-to-skin medical appliance is described, which is used in contact with the skin at an effective spot or a site, such as of a pain, of a human body. This medical appliance is composed merely of solid germanium crystals shaped in the form of a thin disk. In use, the germanium disk is directly contacted with the skin surface by adhesion.

It has been confirmed that when the disk is brought to direct contact with the skin surface, the surface layer 2 11 of the germanium disk dissolves by the action of salts, acidic body fluids and other components contained in sweat from the skin surface. This frequently results in side effects such as chapping, an eruption and the like on the skin. Moreover, because of the dissolution in the surface layer of the germanium disk, it is contaminated on the surface thereof and is injurious to the health, and it is difficult to use over a long term due to the considerable degree of wearing. Thus, this type of germanium disk does not permit the best use of its function of showing a good curing effect on inflammation and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a medical article comprising germanium which does rarely cause chapping or eruption on the skin and is highly resistant to corrosion.

It is another object of the invention to provide a medical article comprising germanium which has a good curing effect on various symptons such as fever, an oppressive pain, the stiffness of the shoulders and the like, accompanied by an increasing intake of oxygen, the promotion of health, an improvement of blood, and activation in replenishment of nutrients.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a germanium medical articles which has three plated metal layers completely covering a germanium body and have thus good durability.

3 The above objects can be achieved, according to the invention, by a germanium medical article which comprises a body made of a material selected from the group consisting of germanium and mixtures of germanium with materials which undergo little ionization, a nickel layer completely covering the body, a palladium layer completely covering the nickel layer, and an outermost rhodium layer completely covering the palladium layer. The outermost rhodium layer is directly contacted with the skin. The body may take various forms including a disk with an outwardly curved surface which contacts the skin or with a projection as will be described in detail hereinafter. The body is plated with three layers including the nickel layer, the palladium layer and the rhodium layer, to completely cover the body with these layers. The respective layers have high resistances to corrosion and wear, so that the sides effects such as chapping and an eruption on the skin as will be experienced in the prior art can be completely suppressed, with an improved durability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a germanium medical article according to one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a germanium medical article according to another embodiment of the invention; and 4 Z n 1 1 Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a germanium medical article according to a further embodiment of the invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts.

In particular, Fig. 1 shows a germanium medical article 1. which includes a body 2 made of germanium with or without other material which is rarely ionized. The body 2 is completely covered with a cover layer 4 made of three layers 5, 6 and 7 formed by plating.

The body 2 may take various forms and is generally in the form of a thin disk having a diameter of from several millimeters to 7 - 8 mm. Preferably, the thin disk has an outwardly curved side which contacts the skin of a human body and may be flat on the other side as particularly shown in Fig. 1. Alternatively, the thin disk should as shown in Fig. 2, approximately at the center of the disk, by which a finger-pressure treatment is also performed.

The body 2 is, for example, a molding of highly purified germanium having a purity of 99.999%, which is obtained by melting an ingot of the highly pure germanium and pouring the melt into a mold of a desired form. Alternatively, the germanium ingot may be reduced into fine pieces by a suitable grinding machine. The fine pieces, with or without mixing with a fine powder of a preferably have a projection 3 1 k 1 material which is unlikely to ionize, are charged into a sintering mold and pressed at a high pressure of, for example, about 5 to 6 tones, and sintered in a sintering furnace, thereby obtaining a body of a desired form. The material to be mixed with the fine pieces of germanium may be metal which has good thermal conductivity and is rarely ionized, e.g. gold, silver, tin and the like, or a glass. This is true of the fine powder of the material to be mixed with the germanium pieces.

The cover layer 4 formed by plating to completely cover the body 2 includes a nickel layer 5 which is used to make a smooth surface on the body 2. On the nickel layer 5 is further formed a palladium layer 6, on which an outermost rhodium layer 7 is formed as a contact layer against the skin.

The nickel layer 5 is directly plated on the surface of the body 2 by any known manner, and makes a smooth surface, so that the expensive palladium layer 6 can be reduced in amount and the formation of the layer 6 becomes easier. In this sense, the nickel layer 5 serves as an undercoat layer.

The palladium layer formed by plating has a good resistance to corrosion and acts as a corrosion-preventive layer when exposed to sweat containing salts, acidic body fluids and other impurities.

The outermost rhodium layer 7 has good resistances to wear and corrosion and exhibits a metallic luster such as 6 of platinum with a good appearance. Thus, this layer 7 can protect the surface of the medical article of the invention and contributes to increase the commerical value.

Reference is now made to Fig. 3 showing a further embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the medical article or body 1 is placed on and fixedly adhered to a piece 8 of an adhesive tape which is larger in size than the article 1 so as to attach it on an affected part. When the adhesive piece 8 is used, it becomes easy to place the article 1 by adhesion through the adhesive piece 8 on an effective spot of a human body, a spot of an oppressive pain, a spot where the skin is chapped, a spot where blown or broken, and an affected part such as the outermost layer of the skin near the internal organs.

In the practice of the invention, although the germanium body 1 is covered with the cover layer 4 made of the three layers 5, 6 and 7, it has been clinically confirmed that the effects of the germanium such as an ion-generating effect and a radical-eliminating effect are not reduced without reduction of the curing efficary. In other words, the curing effect of the germanium is satisfactorily shown but the roughness and eruption of the skin which contacts the medical article have not been experienced at all.

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Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A germanium medical article which comprises a body made of a material selected from the group consisting of germanium and mextures of germanium with materials which undergo little ionization, a nickel layer completely covering the body, a palladium layer completely covering the nickel layer, and an outermost rhodium layer completely covering the palladium layer.

2. A germanium medical article according to Claim 1, wherein said body is made of germanium alone.

3. A germanium medical article according to Claim 1, wherein said body is made of a mixture of germanium and glass.

4. A germanium medical article according to Claim 1, wherein said body is in the form of a disk.

5. A germanium medical article according to Claim 4, wherein said disk has an outwardly curved face which contacts a human body.

6. A germanium medical article according to Claim 4, wherein said disk has a projection substantially at the center of the disk at one side of the disk which contacts a human body.

7. A germanium medical article according-to Claim 1, further comprising an adhesive piece on which said body is f ixedly adhered.

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8. A germanium medical article substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9 Published 1989 at The Patent=ce, State House, 68,171 Iligh Holborn, LondonWC1R4TP. Further copies maybe obtainedfrom The P&t4entOface,