JP2000237322A - Skin contact treatment tool using fine battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a skin contact feeling and to perform sticking to the lesion of a wide range by densely arranging many fine battery elements with respect to a skin contact treatment tool provided with one or more battery elements stuck to a supporting body provided with an adhesive surface stickable to the skin. SOLUTION: The battery element used for this skin contact treatment tool is composed by forming a metal surface 1, a semiconductor surface 2 and a conductive surface 3 on a fine rod-like insulating base body. Then, the metal surface 1 and the semiconductor surface 2 are electrically connected by the conductive surface 3, energizing is performed by simultaneously bringing the metal surface 1 and the semiconductor surface 2 into contact with the skin and a current is generated inside the skin. At the time, the metal surface 1 acts as a positive pole and the semiconductor surface 2 acts as a negative pole. By arranging and sticking the plural pieces of such battery elements in a parallel state to the supporting body 1 provided with the adhesive surface stickable to the skin, the skin contact treatment tool is constituted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a skin treatment device for relieving stiff shoulders and lower back pain.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the number of patients suffering from chronic stiff shoulders and low back pain has increased. It is commercially available. These treatment tools have the effect of promoting blood circulation in the affected area by various principles and purifying locally accumulated waste.

On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-173554 discloses a therapeutic device based on a principle different from that of the above general therapeutic device.
Discloses a skin treatment device for healing muscle and nerve fatigue by electrical stimulation. The skin treatment device forms a biological battery when it comes into contact with the skin and provides a direct current, and is an excellent treatment device having a treatment effect equivalent to or higher than that of the above-mentioned home treatment device. Has been demonstrated.

[0004] There is a disadvantage that it is difficult to maintain a constant current intensity in a skin treatment device using electrical stimulation. However, the skin treatment device has a metal as an electrode and an n. The use of a combination of mold semiconductors overcomes this problem. In other words, in a combination of a normal metal and a metal, an insoluble salt precipitates on the electrode and the electrode deteriorates, whereas when a combination of a metal and an n-type semiconductor is used, the salt does not precipitate and the current is stabilized. It is clear that it can be supplied. In general, the positive electrode and the negative electrode are generally directly electrically connected, but by providing a protective resistance having a resistance value similar to that of the skin, metabolism at the skin contact portion is activated. Even if the resistance value of the affected part is significantly reduced, the change in the current value of the biological battery can be suppressed at most twice.

As described above, the skin treatment device disclosed in JP-A-8-173554 is extremely useful as a treatment device for treating stiff shoulders, back pain, and the like.

[0006] However, there are still points to be improved in size, skin contact, shape, etc. in the conventional skin treatment device using a battery element. Regarding the problems of such prior art,
An overview is given with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a general shape of a conventional skin treatment device. The skin treatment device includes a pedestal 1, a semiconductor 2, and a support 3, and is attached to the skin 4. The pedestal 1 is a pedestal made of a synthetic resin plated with gold, and functions as a positive electrode of the battery. On the other hand, the semiconductor 2 is held upright on the pedestal 1 and acts as a negative electrode of the battery, and the pedestal 1 and the semiconductor 2 form one battery.

As is apparent from the figure, the skin treatment device has a large skin area to be covered as compared with the area of the skin contact, and therefore it is difficult to apply a plurality of skin regions to adjacent parts.

Further, in the shape as shown in FIG. 3, it is extremely difficult to attach to joints such as elbows and knees, and it may cause pain when attached to joints, soles of feet and the like.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a skin treatment device which has a good skin contact feeling and can be applied to a wide range of affected areas. Aim.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a support having an adhesive surface that can be attached to the skin, and a skin comprising one or more battery elements attached to the support. An implantable treatment device, wherein the battery element has a metal surface acting as a positive electrode when contacting the skin, a semiconductor surface acting as a negative electrode when contacting the skin, and a battery element disposed between the metal surface and the semiconductor surface. A metal substrate having a standard electrode potential higher than the semiconductor surface or a metal alloy thereof, comprising an insulating substrate having a conductive surface for electrically connecting the metal surface and the semiconductor surface. And the semiconductor surface is an n-type semiconductor having a standard electrode potential lower than the standard electrode potential of the metal surface, and the conductive surface can be arbitrarily selected from an electrical resistance value of 0 to 50 MΩ / cm ^2. When A skin treatment device is provided.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a battery element used in the skin treatment device of the present invention.

The battery element has a metal surface 1, a semiconductor surface 2, and a conductive surface 3 on a fine rod-shaped insulating substrate. The battery element is equivalent to or close to the size of the semiconductor 2 in FIG. 3, and is significantly smaller than the conventional element.

Since the metal surface 1 and the semiconductor surface 2 are electrically connected by the conductive surface 3, when the metal surface 1 and the semiconductor surface 2 come into contact with the skin at the same time, electricity is supplied and an electric current is generated in the skin.

In the battery element, the metal surface 1 functions as a positive electrode, and the semiconductor surface 2 functions as a negative electrode. The conductive surface 3 electrically connects the metal surface 1 and the semiconductor surface 2;
In addition, it plays a role in generating a current of appropriate intensity that can exhibit a therapeutic effect without damaging the skin.

The battery element is prepared by depositing a metal, a semiconductor raw material, and a conductive substance on the insulating substrate and then subjecting the semiconductor raw material to an oxidation treatment. The right evaporation process can be the same as the process in the manufacture of a melf resistor commonly used for electronic components.

The insulating substrate may be any substance that does not allow current to pass. A preferred insulating substrate in the present invention is ceramics, but is not limited to ceramics.

The metal used for the metal surface 1 is a metal which is hardly subjected to a chemical change and has a high standard electrode potential or an alloy thereof, for example, gold is a typical example.

The semiconductor used for the semiconductor surface 2 can be any n-type semiconductor having a lower standard unipolar potential than the metal used for the metal surface 1. Preferred n-type semiconductors in the present invention are zinc oxide, tin oxide, indium oxide,
It is a metal oxide semiconductor such as antimony oxide, but is not limited thereto.

The conductive surface 3 does not cause a substantial chemical change when energized, and can take an arbitrary value from 0 Ω to an electric resistance equivalent to the electric resistance of the skin in contact with the skin treatment device of the present invention. Carbon is desirable as the conductive material, and is not limited to carbon.

FIG. 2 shows a skin treatment device of the present invention in which a plurality of the battery elements of FIG. 1 are arranged.

The skin treatment device includes a support 1 having an adhesive surface that can be attached to the skin, and one or more battery elements 2 attached to the support 1.

The support 1 is any substrate such as paper, cloth, non-woven fabric, plastic film, etc., which has flexibility so as to conform to the shape of the skin. One surface of the support 1 is an adhesive surface coated with an adhesive, and the skin treatment device of the present invention is attached to the skin by the adhesive surface.

In order to enhance the therapeutic effect, it is preferable that a large number of the battery elements 2 are densely arranged on the support 1. The arrangement of the battery elements is not limited to that shown in the figure, but in consideration of the stability during elongation, a form in which the linear rows are arranged in parallel as shown in FIG. 2 is preferable.

[0026]

As described above, the skin treatment device of the present invention is
Since the minute battery element is provided on the flexible support, the following effects can be obtained.

First, while the application of the conventional skin treatment device using a battery element has been limited to a local one, the skin treatment device of the present invention has a small battery element densely packed. Since a large number are arranged, it can be used for a wide range of affected areas. In view of the fact that it is not easy to identify the affected part with stiff shoulders or the like, such effects of the present invention significantly increase the usefulness and practicality of the skin treatment device using the battery element.

Second, in the skin treatment device of the present invention,
Since a flexible support can be used, it can be applied to joints such as elbows and knees. Such a feature of the present invention expands the acceptability of a skin treatment device using a battery element.

Third, since the battery element of the skin treatment device of the present invention is small, the skin contact feeling is good, and the user does not feel pain in the skin contact portion. Such an effect, soles,
This is very important when applying a skin treatment device to a site where external force is constantly applied, such as an elbow.

Further, since the battery element used for the skin treatment device of the present invention can be manufactured by a known simple method, the manufacturing cost of the skin treatment device of the present invention is extremely low.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a battery element provided in a skin treatment device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a skin treatment device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a general shape of a conventional skin treatment device using a battery.

Continuation of the front page (71) Applicant 599025396 Etsuro Murayama 3-2-8 Shirahata, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture (71) Applicant 598150215 Shigeo Ikeda 2-37-17 Higashi Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Kenji Ogama Chiba Prefecture 7-4-2, Asumigaoka, Midori-ku, Chiba-shi (72) Inventor Etsuro Murayama 3-2-8, Shirahata, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa (72) Inventor Shigeo Ikeda 2-37-17 Higashi Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) 4C053 AA01 GG04

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A skin treatment device comprising: a support having an adhesive surface that can be attached to the skin; and one or more battery elements attached to the support, wherein the battery element comes into contact with the skin. A metal surface sometimes acting as a positive electrode, a semiconductor surface acting as a negative electrode when in contact with the skin, and disposed between the metal surface and the semiconductor surface to electrically connect the metal surface and the semiconductor surface The metal surface is a metal or an alloy thereof having a higher standard electrode potential than the semiconductor surface, and the semiconductor surface is lower than the standard electrode potential of the metal surface. A skin treatment device characterized in that it is an n-type semiconductor having a standard electrode potential, and that the conductive surface can arbitrarily select an electrical resistance value of 0 to 50 MΩ / cm ² .