WO2007012907A2

WO2007012907A2 - Electric therapy machine

Info

Publication number: WO2007012907A2
Application number: PCT/IB2005/000314
Authority: WO
Original assignee: Allen, John
Priority date: 2005-02-08
Filing date: 2005-02-08
Publication date: 2007-02-01
Also published as: WO2007012907A3

Abstract

An electrical machine capable of generating complex and compounded electrical signals, which may be applied to the human body for the purpose of effecting therapeutic, remedial and/or curative results, but which is rendered incapable of administering such signals at levels which might cause damage or other harm, by essentially containing a proportion of signals which, at high levels, will inflict unendurable discomfort. Such inclusions being unavoidably present at relative levels safely above those which might present the risk of unacceptable consequences.

Description

ELECTRIC THERAPYMACHINE

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the application to the human body of electrical stimuli, in order to facilitate remedial or curative effects with respect to damage, illness and disease.

Background of the Invention

It is known that certain types of electrical stimuli, when passed through human tissue, can effect restorative or curative activity, with respect to damage, illness and disease.

It is also known that such treatment may better consist of such stimuli in the form of simple, variable, or sequentially compounded pulses of signal, of a high voltage amplitude.

It is also known that certain types of such stimuli can effect considerable damage or harm to human tissue, if not advisedly administered.

It is also known that certain types of suitably remedial electrical signals, may inflict such damage or harm, without exciting awareness in the subject to whom they are applied, requiring such treatment to be administered only by suitably trained persons.

It is also known that a particular signal construct, consisting of repeated high voltage pulses centred around 250 milliseconds duration, each followed by a sustained period of no voltage, has profound effects upon the body's nervous system, such as may inflict extreme discomfort, whilst nevertheless resulting in no significant damage.

It is also known that these nerve stimulating types of signal, and much shorter duration types of pulses, which may be remedial, but not essentially nerve stimulating, may both reasonably be produced by means of a circuit comprising a low voltage microprocessor signal generator, a current switching amplifier and a low to high voltage transformer. The Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a means by which potentially harmful electrical stimuli may be safely administered, without risk of the aforementioned harm being inflicted upon the person being subjected to the said treatment, thus rendering the treatments safe for unsupervised self- administration.

According to the invention, the required remedial signals, or signal sequences, are contained within a 'safety envelope' that comprises a suitable signal content, which is designed to be able to inflict intolerable discomfort on the recipient, whilst still at levels below those which might render any other signal elements of the envelope detrimental.

According to the invention, this effect is realised by ensuring that the safety element of the signal lies within that signal band, which is known to cause maximum stimulation of the body's sensory nervous system.

According to the invention, this safety system is achieved by ensuring that with all combinations of the nerve stimulating and remedial signals, the mean power of the potentially damaging signals is always pro-rata less than that of the nerve stimulating signals, ensuring that intolerable discomfort would prevent potentially damaging signal levels being administered.

According to the invention, the degree of safety that can be realised by the said safety envelope method, renders such treatment suitable for unsupervised, self- administration, by a subject, whether medically trained or not.

According to the invention, such a 'safety envelope' may be produced as a 'leading' voltage pulse of nominally 275 microseconds duration, followed by a 'null' period ostensibly of no signal, some 8 to 64 times the pulse's actual duration. Into this null period such signals as may be required for any particular treatment (which might be harmful at too high a level) may be inserted, such inserted signals having enforced limits (irrespective of the data by which means they are prescribed) such limits rendering them not unacceptably harmful.

According to the invention, the 'leading' pulse may be varied over a band of circa 150 to 350 microseconds, according to the required effects.

According to the invention, such remedial signals as may be inserted into the 'envelope' described by the said lead pulse plus the null period, may be of a complex nature in as much as any number of pulses, with any number of intervening nulls, of a positive or negative or bi-polar nature, of any duration capable of being resolved by the circuitry (circa 1 microsecond minimum) may be prescribed, but only up to the resolved 'safe' total power.

According to the invention, the above described envelopes may be repeated, with changes to the signal content being effected between envelopes, or between 'blocks' of envelopes, and/or between 'sequences' of such blocks, and/or between 'sessions' of such sequences. According to the invention, all such changes to the signals as mentioned above, may be prescribed, either by the microprocessor program, or by the program data stored in the EEPROM, or both, and effected by means of commonly understood programming procedures.

Embodiment of the Invention

This example describes a machine as a specific embodiment of the invention as may be employed for all types of the pulsed electrical therapy.

Figure 1 shows the electrical circuit of the machine that is capable of being programmed, and so fixed, so as to produce and supply the remedial and safety signals, only in the required safe ratios.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1: One or more pairs of electrodes, suitable for application to the requisite parts of the body, are led by conductive, insulated wires from the 'OUTPUT' such that electrical current may be caused to pass between them, through the subject's body tissue.

The wires are fed from the secondary (high voltage) winding of an electrical transformer 'FTR', via a voltage level-controlling device 'VRl', and a resistive current limiting device 'Rl', such that the subject is able to raise the output signal voltage only to a level, that does not inflict undue discomfort.

The primary winding of the transformer is supplied with pulses of current by the switching device 'FET'.

The switching device 'FET' is fed via the switching transistor 'TRl', with signals generated by a fixed program microprocessor, 'up', the controlling program of which is designed such that irrespective of any manual adjustments that may be made to the unit, or any controlling data that may be introduced to influence the program, the level or degree of discomfort inducing signal will always be safely higher than that of any other possibly detrimental signal.

This embodiment also provides, but not essentially, a means of introducing new or altered treatment program instruction data, via a PC interface, as shown in Figure 1 as 'IN CLK, IN DAT, OUT CLK, OUT DAT'. This program data is stored in the re-programmable memory device 'EEPROM'.

Other circuit aspects of Figure 1 provide conventional facilities, which are not essential to the invention.

Claims

1. A machine capable of supplying high voltage electrical, therapeutic signals, but incapable of administering seriously damaging levels of such, for any period of time that might result in actual damage.

2. A machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein any required mix of otherwise dangerous therapeutic signals can be programmed into the device with complete safety.

3. A single machine as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, that is able to be programmed with a range of differing signals such that a substantial range of differing damage, illness or disease may be safely treated.

4. A machine as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, whereby already widely known, but potentially hazardous treatments, only currently available under trained supervision, may be safely self-administered by a subject without the need for such supervision.

5. A machine as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, whereby newly discovered, but potentially hazardous treatments, may be safely self-administered by a subject without the need of supervision.

6. A machine as claimed in Claim 1, or Claim 2, whereby theoretically probable, but potentially hazardous treatments, may be safely self- administered by a subject without a need of supervision.

7. A machine as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, that is capable of disabling mitotic body cells, such that unwanted growth is prevented or reversed.

8. A machine as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, that is capable of disabling malignant (cancer) cells, and so effect the mortality of such.