IT201900018824A1 - DEVICE FOR SKIN, CONNECTIVE AND JOINT SURFACE STIMULATION - Google Patents

Description

TITLE

DEVICE FOR SKIN STIMULATION,

CONNECTIVAL AND ARTICULAR SURFACES

DESCRIPTION

The present patent relates to devices for skin, connective and joint stimulation, and in particular concerns a new type of device for skin, connective and joint surface stimulation.

STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE

The physiokinesitherapy properties of the use of vibrating mechanical bodies used on the human or animal body are known.

A vibrating mechanical body, if placed in contact with a portion of the body, acts through the direct stimulation of specific superficial skin receptors (corpuscles of Merkel, Meissner), deep skin (corpuscles of Pacini, free nerve fibers), muscle tendon (organs Golgi tendons), muscular (neuromuscular spindles).

Through the mechanical stimulation of mechanoreceptors, and in particular of superficial tensoreceptors, it is possible to send loads of informative sensory impulses to the central nervous system through the afferent fibers and / or to obtain more or less modulated reflex responses through the efferent pathways.

In the stimulation of the reflex arches, motor neurons or interneurons (inhibiting or favoring) can give reactive responses (local and distant) even before the central nervous system in the state of consciousness is informed of it, with various tissue responses: from myotatic to myotatic reflex inverse, in case of stimuli of sufficient amplitude, to the district and / or segmental modification of muscle tone for stimuli of lesser amplitude, to vasodilation or constriction, as a response to the induced stimulus.

Vibration-based therapy appears to be of variable use and purpose and above all influenced by numerous parameters, only some of which are discreetly explored in the scientific literature for specific pathologies. When exposing an organism to a vibrating object, some of these parameters that must be taken into account are: 1) contact surface between the object and tissues; 2) site or place of the stimulus, of the pathophysiology and interconnection to the organism's central nervous system (for example, type of receptors, their concentration, type of afferent and / or efferent nerve fibers); 3) amplitude of the stimulus (or power); 4) frequency of pulse / stimulus cycles; 5) total time of exposure to the stimulus; 6) any pauses between stimulus groups (mechanical stimuli of known or variable frequency, interspersed with periods of pause, in which phenomena of receptor or nervous adaptation are recovered and there are phenomena of "recovery" and repolarization of cells and axons); 6) any resonance phenomena; 7) particular pathology for which vibration therapy is used; 8) mass of the vibrating object; 9) body posture with respect to the point of application of the stimulus; 10) pressure of the interface between the vibrating object and the body surface.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present patent relates to a new device for stimulating the skin, connective tissue and the most exposed articular surfaces, comprising one or more vibrating modules, each in turn comprising at least a part intended to be placed on the patient's body and placed in direct contact or indirectly with the patient's body, at least one oscillating motor, able to vibrate said at least one part and at least one microcontroller, able to selectively activate said at least one oscillating motor.

Said motor has a known oscillation speed, for example between 50 and 16000 Hz, constant or variable, preset or programmable. Each of said vibrating modules also comprises electrical power supply means for said at least one motor, said means comprising for example a battery connected to the motor.

Said motor is able to be activated to oscillate for variable and programmable time intervals, both in frequency and for duration of activation, for example from 1/100 of a second to 1 hour, where said intervals of operating time of a vibrating module have all the same or different durations, for example according to programmed sequences.

We define below:

- activation: time interval in which the module vibrates;

- vibration interval: time interval in which a certain series of activations occurs;

- sequence of operation: sequence formed by vibration intervals and pauses.

By way of example, a vibrating module can be programmed according to an operating sequence which includes:

- vibration interval of 20 minutes, with activations of 1/10 of a second each,

- 1 hour break,

- new vibration interval of 3 minutes, with activations of 3 seconds each.

The parameters relating to the duration of the vibration interval, the duration of each activation pulse, the frequency of said pulses, which can also vary within said vibration range, are programmable according to the requirements of use of the device.

Each of said vibrating modules has limited overall dimensions, being small and substantially flat, and in any case having an overall height suitably less than 2 cm, preferably less than 1 cm, where height means the dimension measured in the direction normal to the surface of support / contact on the patient's body. In particular, said vibrating modules have a substantially flat shape, for example like disks, the size of a coin.

Said support / contact part on the patient's body is shaped so that its support / contact surface on the patient's body has, for example, dimensions between 0.5 mm <2> and 6 cm <2> and rectangular, square, point-like shape or lamellar, ie with a substantially flat and linear development, or other.

Depending on the shape and size of said support / contact surface, it is possible to stimulate the affected area of the patient's body with various possible uses, for example with the function of stimulation / massage of the area, of connective tissue massage or of a specific point receptor, reflex therapy, acupuncture, nerve stimulus, etc.

Said device also comprises means for applying said one or more modules on the area to be treated by the user. For example, said means consist of one or more bands with possible one or more housings for holding said vibrating modules and / or one or more patches or adhesive parts applied on said modules, to make the latter adhere directly to the skin or to said bands.

Each vibrating module is programmable, waterproofed, possibly able to communicate with one or more further vibrating modules. Said vibrating module can be of the "disposable" type or rechargeable and possibly reprogrammable, usable alone or in combination with one or more identical vibrating modules or in synergistic combination with other techniques or devices, for example: physiokinesis taping, functional bandages, variously armed patches for example described in Italian patent no. 102016000041799 and used in the so-called "DRG" method, compression bands for trigger points, lymphatic and non-lymphatic edema; needles and techniques of acupuncture, proprioceptive stimulation, aids for connective tissue massage; posture detectors such as accelerometers.

Said vibrating module, if used individually and thanks to its very small size, can find useful use in district therapy. Said vibrating module can also be if not substantially point-like, thus being able to be used according to principles similar to those of acupuncture, reflex therapy, personalized reflex therapy, localized sensory stimulation, stimulation of nerve sites by triggering the axial reflex. axonic etc.

The single vibrating module can also be used to trigger so-called “recruitment” and / or resonance phenomena, thus expanding one's range of influence / action.

The single vibrating module does not possess sufficient mass to trigger significant vibration phenomena in critical masses such as the hand / arm system or the entire musculoskeletal system, and is in this sense free from risks, with reference to the data known in the literature and related to the side effects of vibrating devices at work.

One of the fundamental characteristics of each of said one or more vibrating modules is to be programmable in such a way that they can be set to vibrate in programmed time intervals, with possible pause or stand-by intervals, for example by excluding or not excluding the night hours, and for a specific period, for example even 2-4 days, before being replaced and / or recharged.

The operating program of each of said one or more vibrating modules is selected and set according to the pathology the user is suffering from, the operator's experience, the patient's response, and so on.

The operating program of each vibrating module provides a period of overall operating time, which substantially depends on the battery life of the module, and includes a certain number of activations in said period of time and a certain number of pauses, in which the module vibrating does not vibrate, and where each activation and each pause have a determined and programmed duration and follow determined and programmed sequences.

The vibration frequency can also be programmed or can be predetermined according to the type of motor mounted in the vibrating module.

A further important feature of each vibrating module is that it comprises a completely sealed and waterproofed containment body. Thanks to this characteristic, the vibrating module can therefore remain applied to the user's body even in the event of exposure to water.

In the event that the device includes two or more vibrating modules, it is also possible to program said vibrating modules in a coordinated way, i.e. in such a way as to operate in synchrony and / or in a particular succession, where the coordinated action of two or more modules can have an overall synergistic effect, as described and claimed below.

Said vibrating modules therefore comprise means of communication and / or transmission and / or reception of data so as to be able to communicate with each other in the case of coordinated operation in a single therapeutic intent.

These means of communication / transmission / reception can work via cable or using wireless technology.

For example, by placing a plurality of said vibrating modules along one or more of the so-called meridians indicated by acupuncture techniques, it is possible to perform a series / sequence stimulation of several points along said meridians. Similarly, it is possible to stimulate multiple trigger points, adjacent or distant, or Valleix points, or various regions of an organized lymphedema, etc.

The dialogue between two or more vibrating modules and their coordinated functioning therefore allows the implementation of more varied and broader therapeutic actions, both in a quantitative and qualitative sense, since it is possible to implement sequential or simultaneous stimulations in more specific points of interest in the pathology in question. .

If the device includes two or more vibrating modules, it is possible to provide that each module communicates with at least one of the other modules, so as to be able to program the operating sequence in a first module, which then sends said sequence to the module. connected to it, and so on to all the others, in succession.

The combined use of several vibrating modules is also useful for conditioning an increase in the tone of the superficial muscles or, indirectly, of the deeper muscles by proprioceptive stimulus or induction, as well as to condition the user's posture through postural conditioning: in this case , said vibrating modules can be programmed to operate in such a way as to condition the user to maintain certain postures and to avoid others. In this case, the device also comprises at least an accelerometer or other means suitable for detecting the position and / or orientation and / or any movements with respect to the three spatial axes of one or more vibrating modules or of a certain part of the body.

Said accelerometer is able to be placed in a determined position on the user's body or on a vibrating module of the device.

Said accelerometer is for example but not necessarily installed in one or more of said vibrating modules and can communicate with at least one of said vibrating modules of the device.

By programming said device coherently with said at least one accelerometer, it is possible to program said vibrating modules so that they are selectively activated according to the position of said accelerometer, for example when an incorrect position of the user is detected. By way of example, considering a subject who has a tendency to lower the left shoulder, this movement is perceived by said at least one accelerometer positioned on the shoulder itself, which communicates with at least one vibrating module positioned for example on the musculature of the left shoulder girdle, which activates and vibrates until posture is corrected. This use of vibrating modules in combination with one or more accelerometers, which therefore involves neurassociative conditioning by means of at least one vibrating module associated with at least one position / movement detection means, is not currently present in the literature.

AREAS OF APPLICATION

The present invention finds effective use in physiokinesitherapy both in the "direct" treatment of skin, musculotendinous and osteotendinous diseases, such as muscle contractures, activation of osteocytes with differentiation into clasts or blasts in periarthritis and / or pseudarthrosis, resorption of organized hematomas, modulation activation of fibroblasts, both in the therapy of postural conditioning and in the rehabilitation therapy of muscles and / or muscle groups, through the induction of foreign and proprioceptive information with responses mediated by the central nervous system (in turn stimulated both in the cortical and subcortical systems) and peripheral (reflex arches and / or modulation of complex reflex arches with reaction in the stimulus region or in remote areas - as occurs for example in the stimulation of the contralateral agonist musculature in the myotatic reflex).

The present invention finds another use in the adjuvant treatment in degenerative pathologies of the central nervous system, such as for example in Parkinson's.

Another useful use is in the maintenance of muscle tone in case of prolonged bed rest or in recovery after illnesses or injuries, as an adjunct in the recovery or maintenance of muscle and peripheral neurological function in case of partial denervation (as occurs for example in the case of herniated discs, in outcomes of entrapment syndromes, neurological outcomes from traumatic injuries, through the recruitment of residual muscle fibers), in the strengthening of proprioceptive afferents from specific body districts and triggering of reflex arcs.

The use of the present invention also finds use in restoring muscle tone (even if only temporary) both in conditions of spastic and flaccid paralysis (total or partial) - as well as in neuro-muscular rehabilitation by means of micro-vibrations and in postural re-education.

The vibrations are certainly able to influence the microcirculation under the skin, in some situations they can promote drainage in the event of a tendency to stasis, the contribution of metabolites and the removal of catabolites, favor the absorption of creams and / or ointments previously applied to the area of interest or soaked in adhesive or non-adhesive plasters or bandages. In the latter case, said one or more vibrating modules can be applied on or in a housing of said plaster or bandage impregnated with ointment or ointment. Said bandage can be made in such a way as to isolate said vibrating modules from the skin and / or structured with edema "rupture" barriers and / or segmental pressure.

The present invention is also used in the possible stimulation of healing phases, acting on the microcirculation or on the activation / modulation of fibroblasts. In this case, said one or more vibrating modules can be applied on top of a dressing bandage or in a suitable pre-established housing thereon.

The present invention finds another useful use in enhancing the action of physiokinesis taping techniques, where said one or more vibrating modules are positioned above or adjacent to the patches used.

The present invention can also be used for analgesic purposes, where the vibration of said one or more vibrating modules induces the phenomenon of "gate control", sensory conditioning, drainage of algic cytokines, relaxation of trigger points (direct or reflected) , the reflex release of endogenous opioids, the reflex activation of phenomena of inhibition or excitement, and promotes the absorption of anesthetic creams and ointments. In conclusion, the new device can be used in the following modes with the effects / functions listed:

1) A vibrating module applied to the patient's body, with the following effects / functions:

- antalgic effect of the district micromassage on the painful parts intact, joint or not, after consulting the doctor; - district muscle relaxant / toning function (myotatic reflex); - myorelaxing function on T.P. (trigger point), intervening and interfering on protracted contracture (myotatic reflex and effect on microcirculation);

- stimulus function on T.P. - probably frequency dependent; - stimulating function on the acupuncture point - possible study of frequencies optimizing the effect;

- stimulating study function on Valleix points (paravertebral or limb) - axis-axon reflex; interfering effect on transmission (stimulating / inhibiting probably frequency dependent);

- function on joint areas: analgesic (as per literature), stimulating for the enrollment / differentiation of osteocytes (possible resorption of periarticular calcifications and bone remodeling); district anti-osteoporotic function (as per literature stimulus activity / differentiation preostoblastiosteoblasts);

- functional enhancement of applications of physiokinesis taping (enhancement of the micromassage of the patches of physiokinesis taping by applying the device on them or in neighboring regions);

- microdrain function / favoring microcirculation in the application segment (surface action for small vibrating masses and / or use of high frequency and deeper for masses of greater weight and / or use of low frequencies);

- function favoring the transcutaneous absorption of ointments and / or creams and / or ointments;

- cutaneous micromassages for aesthetic purposes or for conditioning the relaxation or reabsorption of traumatic hematomas (including surgical ones).

) Two or more vibrating modules programmed and / or communicating with each other, with the following effects / functions:

- vibration / stimulation in sequence or at the same time or variously programmable of more T.P. on professional clinical indication; - vibration / stimulation in sequence or simultaneously or variously programmable of acupuncture points belonging to the same meridian or to different meridians according to indication and professional evaluation;

- sequential or simultaneous or variously programmable vibration / stimulation of entire muscle segments involving a particular metamer;

- Sequence or simultaneous or variously programmable vibration / stimulation of Valleix points, for example in the rehabilitation of acquired sciatic deficits in disc herniation (see literature on vibratory rehabilitation);

- vibration / stimulation in sequence or at the same time or variously programmable micromassaging a region with lymphedema (even partially organized) according to known drainage lines; - vibration / stimulation in sequence or at the same time or variously programmable according to the principles of Dr. Barbiero's personalized reflex therapy (stimulation in the metameric root of the district of interest, of the T.P. found in the district and of the points indicated by the patient himself in the district of interest ); - Sequence or simultaneous or variously programmable vibration / stimulation of multiple periarticular districts affected by pain and / tendinosis (osteocytic / fibroblastic activity stimulus function, micromassage of tendon or aponeurotic micro-adhesions).

3) One or more vibrating modules and at least one accelerometer or other means of recognition of the postural structure, even district, or of a different physiological state of the organism, with the following effects / functions:

- conditioning and / or rehabilitating and / or corrective postural re-education, for example for scoliosis, hyperkyphosis, etc., according to professional specialist indications;

- conditioning rehabilitation function in inducing / remembering a movement in a district according to professional specialist indications;

- improvement / conditioning of an athletic gesture;

- influence of wakefulness / sleep in case of snoring or apnea; - possible hypno-inducing action or promoting falling asleep. These are the schematic modalities sufficient for the skilled person to realize the invention, consequently, in concrete application there may be variations without prejudice to the substance of the innovative concept.

Therefore, with reference to the preceding description, the following claims are expressed.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS 1. Device for skin, connective tissue and joint surface stimulation, characterized in that it comprises one or more vibrating modules, each in turn comprising: - at least a part intended to be placed on the patient's body and placed in direct or indirect contact with the patient's body, - at least one oscillating motor, able to vibrate said at least one part, - at least one microcontroller, able to selectively activate said at least one oscillating motor, and where said device also comprises means for applying and retaining said one or more modules on the area to be treated of the user's body, and where said means consist of one or more bands with possible one or more housings for retaining said modules vibrators and / or one or more plasters or adhesive parts. 2. Device, as per claim 1, characterized in that said motor has an oscillation speed comprised between 50 and 16000 Hz, constant or variable, preset or programmable. 3. Device, as per claim 1, characterized by the fact that each of said vibrating modules also comprises electrical power supply means for said at least one motor, said means comprising for example a battery connected to the motor. 4. Device, as per claim 1, characterized in that said microcontroller is configured to activate said at least one motor to oscillate for one or more variable and programmable time intervals, both in frequency and in activation duration, where said time intervals of operation of a vibrating module all have the same or different durations and are possibly separated by one or more pause periods. 5. Device, as per claim 4, characterized in that the parameters relating to duration of the vibration interval, duration of each activation pulse, frequency of said pulses, which can also vary within said vibration range, are programmable according to the needs of use of the device. 6. Device, as per the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that each of said vibrating modules have a substantially flat overall dimensions, and in any case having an overall height suitably lower than 2 cm, preferably lower than 1 cm, whereby height is meant the dimension measured in the direction normal to the support / contact surface on the patient's body. 7. Device, as per the preceding claims, characterized in that said support / contact part on the patient's body of said vibrating module is shaped so that its support / contact surface on the patient's body has dimensions between 6 cm < 2> and 0.5 mm <2> and rectangular, square, punctiform or lamellar shape, ie with substantially linear development, or other. 8. Device, as per the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises two or more of said vibrating modules, each comprising means of communication and / or transmission and / or reception of data for communication with one or more other vibrating modules, and where said means of communication / transmission / reception work via cable or using wireless technology. 9. Device, as per the preceding claims, characterized by the fact of comprising at least one accelerometer or other means suitable for detecting one's position and / or orientation and / or any movements with respect to the three spatial axes and capable of being placed in a specific position on the user's body, and where said at least one accelerometer is connected to at least one of said vibrating modules, which is selectively activated according to predefined positions detected by said accelerometer. 10. Device, as per the preceding claims, characterized in that each of said vibrating modules comprises a waterproofed containment body.