RU2704203C1 - Corrective corset - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: invention refers to medical equipment, namely to correcting corsets for scoliosis treatment. Correction corset is made in the form of a plastic sleeve, on the outer surface of which there is a sensor for wearing a corset, wherein in the areas of action of the sleeve on the body there are Peltier modules, which cold plates are located on outer surface of sleeve, and warm plates – on inner surface of sleeve, in contact with patient's body, Peltier modules are installed in series to form a battery which is connected in parallel to a corset wearing time sensor and a threshold voltage limiter, the minimum operating voltage of which is equal to the sum of nominal operating voltages of the Peltier modules.

EFFECT: use of the invention allows more reliable registration of time of correct corset effect on the patient.

1 cl, 1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to medical equipment, more specifically to functionally-correcting corsets for the treatment of scoliosis.

In world practice, corsetting has been used for over 30 years as the main method of conservative treatment of scoliosis in children and adolescents. For such patients, corsetry prevents the development of the disease and reduces the likelihood of future surgical treatment. There are a large number of corrective corsets, many of which can serve as an analogue to this proposal. In complex cases, for example, with large deformations of the spine (Cobb angles greater than 20-40 degrees), with curvature simultaneously in the sagittal and horizontal planes, and also if the spinal column needs to be rotated, a Chenot correction corset (CC) is used (patent for utility model UA 48641, published March 25, 2010, IPC: A61F 5/02 (2006.01), adopted as a prototype) or "Chenot type" ("Orthopedics, Traumatology and Prosthetics", 2009, No. 4, 97-100).

According to SOSORT (International Society for Scoliosis, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Methods), in cases where long-term and significant effects are required at several points on the body, such a corset is most effective. The corrective corset adopted for the prototype has a plastic sleeve with additional corrective inserts-pelots located on the convex side of the curvature and expansion zones located on the concave side of the curvature and opposite the corresponding pelots. The main element of QC is a relatively large plastic case (sleeve), the individual design of which allows you to most accurately set the three-dimensional vector of the corrective effect on the patient’s trunk and spine. Such a vector is formed due to a calibrated force impact on the body in clearly defined zones (points of influence), which are exerted by the protruding (inward) parts of the liner or additional insert-pelots. At the same time, there are also unloading zones where the displaced body volume is directed. The magnitude of the force impact of the corset on the body at the control point depends on the configuration of the sleeve (or pelot) in the vicinity of this point. Each type of scoliosis is characterized by well-defined exposure patterns (exposure and discharge zones). In addition to the specified amplitude of the force acting on the spine, an important healing factor is naturally the duration of this effect. In the QC, this parameter is recorded by the wearing time sensor (DVN), mounted together with the power source in the sleeve or pelot at one of the points of influence. Such a sensor is glued to the QC at the last stage of its manufacture. Its presence in the CC is caused by weakened personal control of adolescents over the process of wearing a corset. It should be noted that the corrective vector of influence is preserved only if all points of influence "work" (in the Chenot corset there are usually at least three of them). An exception to the work of at least one such point changes the vector (both in magnitude and direction), and this can not only negate the effect of treatment, but also harm the patient. The correct value of the wearing time of the corset should thus take into account the duration of the simultaneous force exposure at all control points of the corset.

Temperature sensors were previously used as DVN; small-sized strain gauges or pressure sensors are also currently used (Chalmers E. & oth. An advanced compliance monitor for patients undergoing brace treatment for idiopatic scoliosis // Medical Engineering and Physics, 2015, No. 2 (37) , p. 203-209).

In modern German spacecraft, the TheraMon miniature sensor, designed for use in dentistry, is used as DVN. He periodically measures and records the temperature in relation to time (TheraMon is a useful device in orthodontic practice; www.olgakaraban.blogspot.ru/2013). Such a sensor allows one to judge the duration of a person’s presence in a corset, however, it does not guarantee a correct measurement of the duration of a given exposure vector, since it is usually used only in a single number (at one of the exposure points) because of its high cost. In addition, the sensor requires regular battery replacement. The last two circumstances can be attributed to the shortcomings of the selected prototype (standard Chenot type corset).

Sports watches are known that do not have their own power supply Matrixpowerwatch (www powerwatch.com; geektimes.ru). The source of electricity in this case is the Peltier element (thermoelectric generator - TEG), which works from the heat of the human hand, more precisely - from the difference in temperature of the hand and the environment. At room temperature, the TEG of this watch gives out (after amplification) a voltage of about 3V, which turns out to be sufficient for the liquid crystal display of the watch. Although the power of such power sources is very small, Matrix is also considering the possibility of their use in medical devices (my-SmartWatch.com).

The objective of this proposal is to increase the correctness of fixing a given vector of influence on the spine through the use of Peltier modules (TEG) as DVN in a "multi-point" control system.

The technical result of this solution is to increase the reliability of recording the time of the correct effect of the corset on the patient and reduce the cost of the corset by using a cheaper element base (Peltier modules instead of TheraMon sensors).

The technical result is achieved by the fact that in a correctional corset, including a plastic sleeve and a wearing time sensor, at all points of force acting on the patient’s body, Peltier modules are electrically connected in series, which form a battery so that the cold plate of each module is placed on the outer surface of the sleeve and is in contact with the environment, and a warm plate is placed on the inner surface of the sleeve in contact with the patient’s body, while to the battery of the said parall modules tionary sensor connected wearing time and the threshold voltage limiter, the minimum actuation voltage equals the sum of the nominal operating voltage of the Peltier element and the operating resistance is negligible compared with the sensor resistance of wearing time.

In addition, fragments of metal foil that are in thermal contact with external cold plates of Peltier modules are glued on the outer surface of the liner.

The essence of this proposal is to use thermoelectric modules (Peltier modules) operating from the heat of the human body as contact sensors of a corset. At the same time, the number of the mentioned modules in the sleeve should correspond to the number of specified points of influence, and the wearing time sensor works only when the body is in contact with all of these points. Only in this case, the threshold voltage limiter is open, and current flows through the sensor. Otherwise, the battery of Peltier cells is short-circuited through a threshold voltage limiter having a low resistance, and the sensor does not work. It is worth noting that although the efficiency of modern Peltier modules (like solar panels) is only slightly higher than 10%, advances in solid state physics give hope for an increase in the energy efficiency of such TEGs in the future. Nevertheless, already now such a control system for wearing a corset will be fully functional, which proves the performance of the Matrixpowerwatch (www.powerwatch.com), where the conditions for the functioning of Peltier elements are much worse.

The essence of the proposal is illustrated in FIG. 1, where, conditionally, the QC liner is depicted in the form of a hollow cylinder with two “dents” (zones of impact on the body) and opposite “openings” (zones of unloading). In this case, the following notations are accepted: 1 - a plastic sleeve; 2 - Peltier modules; 3 - cold plates of Peltier modules; 4 - warm plates of Peltier modules; 5 - threshold voltage limiter; 6 - wearing time sensor; 7 - an external fragment of a metal foil.

Here, the Peltier modules (2) are mounted in a plastic sleeve (1) in the zones of its impact on the body so that their warm plate (4) will contact the patient’s body, and the cold plate (3) is outside the sleeve and can freely contact the environment. To increase the efficiency of heat removal from the “cold” plate (3), the latter can also come in contact with a fragment of a metal foil (7) glued to the outer surface of the sleeve (1). Peltier modules (2) are electrically connected in series to a battery, to which a threshold voltage limiter (5) and a wear time sensor (6) are connected in parallel. The latter can be placed in the sleeve (1) in any suitable place for this, on its outer surface. A fragment of a metal foil (7), which is in thermal contact with the external cold plate (3) of the Peltier module (2) and is an additional heat sink for the latter, is glued here. The proposed system works as follows. After the patient wears a corset, the inner surface of the sleeve (1) and the inner warm plate (4) of the Peltier modules (2) are heated to body temperature. Between the plates (3) and (4) of these modules, a certain temperature difference is established, depending on the ambient temperature. At the same temperature, there is also a fragment of a metal foil (7) that facilitates heat removal from the external plate (3) of the modules (2). Under normal conditions, the temperature difference between the plates of the modules is about 20 ° C (the same as in the Matrix Powerwatch). The battery of modules (2) under these conditions gives the total potential difference of all Peltier elements (in this case, these potentials are the same). This total voltage is critical for the threshold limiter (5) - starting from it, it ceases to conduct current (like a fuse), and the current flows to the wearing time sensor (6). If at some point the thermal contact with the body disappears, the total voltage of the thermoelectric elements (their batteries) drops, it closes to the threshold voltage limiter (6), which has little resistance, and the sensor (6) stops working. If the contact is restored, the threshold converter (5) again breaks the circuit, and the sensor (6) again starts to record the time. After removing the corset, the temperature difference and the voltage on the plates (3) and (4) disappear, and the sensor (6) also stops working.

It should be noted that in contrast to the “thermoelectric” clock in the corset, the plate area of the Peltier module, and therefore the operating currents, can be much larger, and this increases the reliability of the thermoelectric system.

In general, the proposed system for recording the total time of wearing Chenot-type corsets allows to increase the accuracy of determining the time of its correct wearing when all control points are involved, and the corset has the recommended therapeutic effect. This is especially true with weakened control over the process of the patients themselves (for example, children and adolescents) and allows us to judge the effectiveness of the recommended treatment regimen.

Claims (2)

 1. Correction corset, made in the form of a plastic sleeve, on the external surface of which a corset wearing time sensor is installed, characterized in that Peltier modules are placed in the areas where the sleeve acts on the body, the cold plates of which are placed on the outer surface of the sleeve, and the warm plates on the inside the surface of the sleeve, in contact with the body of the patient, the Peltier modules are installed in series, with the formation of the battery, which is connected in parallel to the sensor for wearing the corset and the threshold voltage limiter Nia, the minimum actuation voltage which is the sum of the nominal operating voltage of the Peltier module. 2. A corset according to claim 1, characterized in that fragments of a metal foil are glued in thermal contact with the cold plates in the zones of influence of the sleeve on its outer surface.

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