WO2000038600A1

WO2000038600A1 - Abdominal belt for medical treatment of intervertebral disk hernia

Info

Publication number: WO2000038600A1
Application number: PCT/KR1999/000804
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joon Suk Chae
Original assignee: Joon Suk Chae
Priority date: 1998-12-26
Filing date: 1999-12-22
Publication date: 2000-07-06

Abstract

Abdominal belt having air injection pipe is provided for protection of inervertebral disk and for medical treatment of intervertebral disk hernia. Bent pneumatic pipe (120) linked with air inlet is iteratively arrayed into the inside of a given length of belt (110), and said belt is sewn with following pneumatic pipe at some intervals while pneumatic pipe separates independently by sealing pipe (130) attached to pneumatic pipe. A large number of crossed branch pipes (240) equipped with air supply pipe (241) and connection pipe (242) is reciprocally connected by combining a given length of linking hose (243) with each connection pipe of crossed branch pipe.

Description

ABDOMINAL BELT FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT OF INTER VERTEBRAL DISK HERNIA

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an abdominal belt for medical treatment of a disk, and more particularly, to an abdominal belt for medical treatment of a disk, which treats and prevents the disk from being caused by injecting air to the abdominal belt and drawing the belt up and down, thereby extending a gap between spines.

Generally, a disk refers to a spinal joint. The disk exists between spines, and is composed of nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus .

When medically explained in more detail, a disk is a disease in which nucleus pulposus is herniated, and is referred to as Herniated Nucleosus Pulposus. This disease may occur in disks of cervical portion, pectus portion and lumbar portion of a spine, when the nucleus pulposus is protruded due to excessive load or external shock, thereby giving pressure to nerve roots. With this pressure to nerve roots, the disk generates lumbago and moreover, causes radial pain in a lower half of the body to which nerve roots are connected. When a disk becomes worse, one cannot act normally standing up straight.

Accordingly, there are proposed several treatments for disk. One treatment is to extend a gap between pressured spines by an external force to restore the gap to the original state, thereby restoring the nucleus pulposus protruded by pressure. Another treatment is to transfer the protruded nucleus pulposus. Other treatment is to inject medicine to the nerve root in which nucleus pulposus is contained for dissolution of the nucleus pulposus, thereby restoring the nucleus pulposus protruded from a spine. However, these treatments are only for temporary effect. That is to say, in case of a nucleus pulposus protruded through a nerve root, treatment by methods such as an operation is impossible because an annulus fibrosus is formed with a fibroid material. Therefore, the protruded nucleus pulposus returns to the protruded spot and recurs over and over again. Accordingly, in order to prevent such recurrence, it is necessary to strengthen annulus fibrosus with continuous and long-term exercise in a state that a spine is elongated. However, no method for maintaining the state is proposed at present.

BACKGROUND ART

Therefore, an abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk, for extending a gap between spines by wearing the belt at a waste and injecting air into the belt to guide nucleus pulposus to return to a spine, thereby enabling a person to do daily life in a standing up state, is disclosed in KR patent No. 0142202.

As shown in Figs. 1A and IB, an abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk is formed by wrapping an enclosing surface 3 at an outer surface of an air injecting tube 1 arranged with a certain interval from each other to enclose a left side and a lower side. A lower side of the air injecting tube 1 is fixed to the lower side of the enclosing surface 3 by a fixing means such as a screw, thereby making the air injecting tube 1 swell only in a longitudinal direction when the air injecting tube 1 is swelled by an air pump. At this time, the enclosing surface 3 wrapping the air injecting tube 1 is enclosed inside the belt A. However, the related art abdominal belt A for medical treatment of disk has several problems.

In the related art abdominal belt formed as above, a plurality of T-shaped connecting tubes 2 are enclosed between amputated portions of a rubber hose 4, and a cap 5 is mounted at a lower part of each air injecting tube 1. Accordingly, it is likely that air leakage occurs at portions such as enclosing portions of the rubber hose 4 and the T-shaped connecting tube 2, and a portion of the cap 5 at the lower part of the air injecting tube 1. If one of these portions is damaged by an external shock, air leakage occurs and the abdominal belt loses its original purpose .

Additionally, since the plurality of T-shaped connecting tubes 2 and the rubber hose 4 which connects the connecting tubes with one another are located at a lower part of the abdominal belt A, the T-shaped connecting tubes 2 and the rubber hose A strongly oppress a pelvic bone when a user wears the abdominal belt A, thereby generating great pain.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk, having enhanced flexibility by repeatedly bending an air extension tube of a certain length up and down, and wrapping an outer surface of the air extension tube with an enclosing tube to enclose the edge of the enclosing tube within the belt, or by externally sewing the bent air extension tube with a certain interval to make each of the air extension tube independent, thereby connecting the air extension tubes as a whole body without any connecting portion, and with further enhanced pulling force by increasing adhesion of the belt with a lumbar portion.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk in which pain generated from wearing the belt is minimized by respectively mounting an air extension tube at a longitudinally extended supplying tube in a plurality of cross-shaped air filtering tubes, mounting a connecting hose at a horizontally extended connecting tube to be connected to each other, and then arranging the cross- shaped air filtering tubes along the middle inside the belt, thereby avoiding contact of the cross-shaped air filtering tube with a pelvic bone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Fig. 1A is a perspective view showing a main part of the related art abdominal belt;

Fig. IB is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the related art abdominal belt;

Fig. 2 shows a first embodiment of the abdominal belt according to the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a cut-open view of the mam part shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the abdominal belt of Fig. 4 as assembled.

*Descπptιon on symbols for key parts m the drawings*

110: abdominal belt 120: air extension tube 130: enclosing tube 160: elastic band

170: reinforcing band 210: abdominal belt

211: velcro tape 220: elastic band

230: reinforcing band 240: cross-shaped air filtering tube

241: supplying tube 242: connecting tube

243: connecting hose

250: air extension tube 251: enclosing tube

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Fig. 2 shows the first embodiment of an abdominal belt according to the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2, an inner side of an abdominal belt 110 is made of materials such as cotton, and an outer surface is made of artificial leather. The outer surface of the belt 110 is provided with velcro tapes 111 at each side to be combined with each other .

An air extension tube 120 made of rubber having good flexibility is mounted within the belt 110. As shown in Fig. 3, the air extension tube 120 connected with an air pump is repeatedly bent and arranged up and down to be elongated up and down. Then, a part of the air extension tube 110 is isolated by vertically sewing the belt 110 with a certain interval. Preferably, after mounting the air extension tube 120 in the belt 110, an enclosing tube 130 having no elasticity is mounted at an outer portion of the air extension tube 120 with a certain interval, thereby enabling the air extension tube 120 to be expanded easily to up and down direction, rather than to lateral direction.

At this time, it is important to process the specific portion of the air extension tube 120, which is repeatedly bent in an up and down direction or bent perpendicularly, to have a rounded shape, so that there is no blockage of air flow due to the bending of the air extension tube 120.

Meanwhile, an elastic band 160 which is horizontally elongated is mounted on upper and lower parts inside the belt 110 so that tight coupling of the belt with a user's waste is improved, thereby effectively supporting the upper part of a body.

Additionally, a reinforcing band 170 for preventing the belt 110 from being swelled toward the outside of the air extension tube 120 is mounted at an outer side of the belt 110. At least one female button 112 is provided at the rear of the outer side of the belt 110 and a corresponding male button 171 is provided at the rear of the inner side of the belt 110. Successively, velcro tapes 172 are formed at left and right sides of the reinforcing band 170 respectively to correspond to each other.

Meanwhile, a plurality of air vents may be formed to prevent from perspiring in the waste. Alternatively, a sweat-absorbing cover may be provided at the outer side of the belt 110.

Fig. 4 illustrates a second embodiment according to the belt of the present invention, and Fig. 5 illustrates the abdominal belt of Fig. 4 as assembled.

First, velcro tapes 211 are mounted at left and right sides of a belt 210 whose inner side is formed of such materials as cotton, and outer side of such materials as artificial leather, to be attached to each other.

Then, an elastic band 220 which is horizontally elongated is mounted on upper and lower parts inside the belt 210. Additionally, a reinforcing band 230 for preventing the belt 210 from being swelled toward the outside is mounted at an outer side of the belt 210. At least one female button 212 is provided at the rear of the outer side of the reinforcing band 230 and a corresponding male button 231 is provided at the rear of the inner side of the reinforcing band 230. Successively, velcro tapes 232 are formed at left and right sides of the reinforcing band 230 respectively to correspond to each other. A hook 233 is formed at one side of the reinforcing band 230 to be fixed to a hanging portion 213 at one side of the belt 210.

Meanwhile, a plurality of cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 are fixedly mounted at a certain interval along the center of the inner part of the belt 210, wherein a supply tube 241 is respectively provided up and down and a connecting tube 242 is provided in left and right direction.

Additionally, an air extension tube 250 of rubber is seal-connected to each supply tube 241 of the cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240, and a connecting hose 243 of a certain length is seal-connected to each of the connecting tubes 242 of adjacent different cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240. At this time, each end portion of the air extension tube 250 is elongated as far as possible and fixed at the upper and lower parts inside the belt 210. Accordingly, if the air extension tube 250 fixed as above is placed in the belt, the belt 210 is shrunk up and down, thereby causing many wrinkles.

Meanwhile, an air extension tube 250 can be made to be easily extended up and down by sewing the belt 210 along both sides of each air extension tube 250 to isolate the air extension tubes 250 from each other, or wrapping an enclosing tube 251 having a relatively larger diameter than the air extension tube 250 and fixing the enclosing tube 251 inside the belt 210.

Additionally, an air injecting tube 244 corresponding to an air pump is formed by connecting a connecting hose 243 of a certain length to a connecting tube 242 of the cross-shaped air filtering tube 240 mounted at an end and then exposing an end portion of the connecting hose 243 to the outside of the belt 210.

A plurality of air vents may be formed in the belt 210 to prevent from perspiring in the waste. Alternatively, a sweat-absorbing cover may be provided at the outer side of the belt 210. The operation of the abdominal belt 210 for medical treatment of disk will be explained in detail.

The belt 210 in a contracted state is worn around a lumbar of a waste, and velcro tapes 211 at each end portion are attached to each other by pulling the belt 210 with an appropriate force. At this time, an elastic band 220 in the belt 210 is elongated horizontally to be compressed to a waste. Since rigid portions of the abdominal belt such as a plurality of cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 and a connecting hose 243 for connecting each of the cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 are located in the middle of the belt 210 to be compressed at a plump waste, pain caused by pressure of the portions such as the cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 and the connecting hose 243 can be minimized.

Successively, in a state that a female button 213 at the rear of the belt 210 is connected with the male button

231 of the reinforcing band 230, velcro tapes 232 at left and right sides of the reinforcing band 230 are attached to each other.

After the belt 210 is worn as above, a nozzle portion of the air pump is combined to an air injecting inlet 244 located at one side of the belt 210 to inject air into the belt 210. The injected air passes through the cross-shaped air filtering tube 240, and is supplied to each air extension tube 250 extended and connected longitudinally to the cross-shaped air filtering tube 240. At this time, the air extension tube 250 is elongated up and down in the belt as air pressure increases to draw an upper part of a body and at the same time to extend a gap between pressured spines, thereby restoring a protruded nucleus pulposus to an original state to enable a patient having disk to do normal daily life.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Accordingly, the present invention can be used very helpfully by patients having disk, having enhanced flexibility by repeatedly bending the air extension tube 120 of a certain length up and down, and wrapping the outer surface of the air extension tube 120 with the enclosing tube 130 to enclose the edge of the enclosing tube 130 within the belt, or by externally sewing the bent air extension tube 120 with a certain interval to make each of the air extension tube 120 independent, thereby connecting the air extension tubes as a whole body without any connecting portion, and with further enhanced pulling force by increasing adhesion of the belt with a lumbar portion.

Furthermore, the present invention can be used very helpfully by patients having disk by minimizing pain generated from wearing the belt by respectively mounting the air extension tube 250 at a longitudinally extended supplying tube 241 in a plurality of cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240, mounting a connecting hose 243 at a horizontally extended connecting tube 242 to be connected to each other, and then arranging the cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 along the middle inside the belt, thereby avoiding contact of the cross-shaped air filtering tube with a pelvic bone.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk, characterized in that an air extension tube 120 connected with an air injecting inlet is repeatedly bent up and down in a belt 110 of a certain length to be elongated up and down, and then the air extension tube 120 is independently isolated by vertically sewing the belt 110 along the air extension tube 120 with a certain interval.

2. The abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk as claimed in claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the air extension tube 120 is wrapped with an enclosing tube 130 to enclose an edge of the enclosing tube 130 within the belt 110.

3. An abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk, characterized in that a plurality of cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 respectively provided with a supplying tube 241 up and down and a connecting tube 242 in left and right direction are formed, and an air extension tube 250 fixed at upper and lower parts of an abdominal belt 210 is connected to one side of the supplying tube 241 of the plurality of cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 and at the same time, a connecting hose 243 of a certain length is connected to the connecting tube 242 of the corresponding cross-shaped air filtering tube 240 respectively to connect the plurality of cross-shaped air filtering tubes with one another, and the cross-shaped air filtering tubes 240 are arranged along the middle inside the belt 210, wherein each of the plurality of air extension tubes 250 connected with the supplying tube 241 of the cross-shaped air filtering tube 240 is isolated from each other.

4. The abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that each of the plurality of air extension tubes 250 is isolated from each other, wherein an enclosing tube 251 of a certain length is mounted at an outer side of the air extension tube 250.

5. The abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk as claimed in claim 1 or 3, characterized in that an elastic band 160 or 220 extending horizontally is mounted at an upper or lower part inside the belt 110 or 210.

6. The abdominal belt for medical treatment of disk as claimed in claim 1 or 3, characterized in that a reinforcing band 170 or 230 for preventing the air extension tube 120 or 250 from being externally swelled is mounted at outer sides of the belt 110 or 210.