Method and device for eradicating lice and nits

Abstract

 A method and device for eradicating lice and nits form an infested area, particularly the scalp of a human being, comprises a plastic or rubber cap for covering the head of a human being, and means for filling the cap with an inner gas, such as carbon dioxide from a pressurized-gas cartridge, in order to suffocate the lice and the nits enclosed by the cap.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method, and also to a device, for eradicating lice and nits from an infested area. The invention is particularly useful for eradicating lice and nits from the scalp of a human being, and is therefore described below with respect to this application.

[0002] Lice are a group of parasitic insects that live on various animals, including human beings; and nits are the eggs of such insects. Head lice are most common among children because of the frequency with which they put their heads together during work projects and games. If one child is infested, then all the other children are likely to be infested. In severe cases, the lice can be seen, but in most cases the diagnoses is made after finding small, shiny, pearl-coloured nits (eggs) attached to the hairs of the scalp.

[0003] The usual treatment involve applying a shampoo or a lotion which includes active ingredients killing the lice and the nits. However, the known treatments are not entirely satisfactory for several reasons: The active ingredient may be harmful to the scalp, and therefore care must be exercised; a physician's prescription is even required for some such preparations. In addition, some preparations have to be left on the head for a long period of time, e.g., 12 hours, before shampooing, and/or require repeated treatments because of the difficulty of killing the nits particularly. Further, some lice and nits develop an immunity to particular preparations, which further increases the difficulty in eradicating them.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a new method and device for eradicating lice and nits from an infested area.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of eradicating lice and nits from an infested area, comprising:
enclosing the infested area with a gas-tight enclosure; removing breathable oxygen from within the enclosure for a period of time sufficient to suffocate the lice and nits therein; and removing the enclosure and the suffocated lice and nits from the infested area.

[0006] In the preferred described embodiment, the breathable oxygen is removed from the enclosure by filling it with an inert gas such as carbon dioxide.

[0007] The novel method, thus based on suffocating the lice and the nits, provides a number of important advantages over the techniques heretofore used. The main advantage is that the material used is inert, and therefore can be applied without a physician's prescription and without danger of injuring the subject; accordingly, the treatment can be applied as often as desired, even when there is a mere suspicion that a child's hair is infested with lice. In addition, since the applied material is in the form of a gas, it can penetrate and reach all the areas of the scalp that may be infested with the lice and nits. Further, the treatment has been found to be equally effective with respect to nits (eggs) as well as lice; and still further, there is no danger of the lice developing an immunity from the treating material.

[0008] Still further, the novel technique may be performed using relatively inexpensive and commonly available devices. For example, the enclosure could be a head covering in the form of a plastic or rubber cap, such as a bathing cap or a hair-dryer's cap, and the inert gas used could be carbon dioxide supplied from carbon dioxide cartridges commonly used for household carbonation of water.

[0009] The invention also provides a device for eradicating lice and nits from an infested area in accordance with the above-described method.

[0010] Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.

[0011] The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates one form of device constructed in accordance with the invention as applied to a child for eradicating lice and nits from the child's scalp; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view illustrating the device of Fig. 1.

[0012] Fig. 1 illustrates a child 2, whose head is infested, or is suspected of being infested, with lice and nits, being treated in accordance with the present invention. For this purpose, a head covering 4, such as a flexible cap, is applied over the child's scalp, and an inert gas is introduced into the space between the flexible cap and the child's scalp through one end of a tube 6, the opposite end of the tube including a holder 8 for a cartridge 10 of compressed carbon dioxide, such as commonly used for carbonating beverages.

[0013] Fig. 2 more particularly illustrates one construction that may be used.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 2, the head covering 4 is preferably a flexible plastic or rubber cap, such as used in bathing or hair drying; tube 6 is a flexible tube having one end secured to cap 4 so as to introduce the gas into the area of the scalp enclosed by the cap; and holder 8 at the opposite end of tube 6 is a conventional holder for receiving a carbon dioxide cartridge 10. Holder 8 is externally threaded and is attached to an internally threaded socket 12 secured to the end of tube 6. Socket 12 includes a valve operator 14 which engages a stem 16 on the cartridge 10, when the holder and cartridge are threaded socket 14 at the end of flexible tube 6, for opening the valve and thereby permitting the pressurized gas within the cartridge 10 to flow through tube 6 into the space between cap 4 and the subject's scalp. Such gas cartridge holders are well known and in widespread use for introducing carbon dioxide into water or beverages.

[0015] As set forth above, the carbon dioxide (or other inert gas) introduced into the space between the cap and the subject's scalp provides an oxygen-free atmosphere with suffocates the lice and nits by depriving them of the oxygen (air) required to sustain animal life. When the treatment is first started, a large quantity of gas should first be introduced via tube 6 into the space enclosed by cap 4 so as to expel all the air from this space through the imperfect seal provided between the cap and the subject's scalp; and then a a smaller quantity of gas should be continuously applied to the space during the complete period of treatment so as to provide a positive pressure therein preventing the seepage of air back into the space between the cap and scalp. This treatment should be continued until the lice and nits have been suffocated. It has been found that a period of 30 minutes, using about six conventional carbon dioxide cartridges, is usually sufficient.

[0016] After the foregoing treatment has been completed, cap 4 is removed, and the dead lice and nits may be removed from the scalp by conventional means, such as by shampooing and combing.

[0017] While the invention has been described for eradicating lice and nits from the human scalp, it will be appreciated that is could be applied for eradicating lice and nits from other parts of the human body, and also from the bodies of other animals, such as pets. Also, while carbon dioxide gas is used in the described embodiment, other inert gases, such as nitrogen, could also be used. In addition, while the flexible tube 6 has been shown as being secured to the cap to be applied to the subject's scalp, it will be appreciated that the tube could be merely inserted between the open end of the cap and the subject's scalp. Further, the air containing the breathable oxygen could be removed from within the enclosure (cap) by suction with or without refilling with another, inert, gas.

[0018] Many other variations, modifications and applications of the invention will be apparent.

Claims

1. The method of eradicating lice and nits from an infested area, comprising:
enclosing the infested area with a gas-tight enclosure;
removing breathable oxygen from within said enclosure for a period of time sufficient to suffocate the lice and nits therein;
and removing the enclosure and the suffocated lice and nits from the infested area.

2. The method according to Claim 1, wherein the breathable oxygen is removed from said enclosure by filling the enclosure with an inert gas.

3. The method according to Claim 2, wherein said gas is carbon dioxide.

4. The method according to either of Claims 2 or 3, wherein a large quantity of gas is initially introduced into said enclosure, and then a small quantity of gas is continuously introduced to maintain the atmosphere within the enclosure free of oxygen.

5. The method according to any one of Claims 1-4, wherein said infested area is the scalp of a human being.

6. The method according to Claim 5, wherein said enclosure is a plastic or rubber cap.

7. A device for eradicating lice and nits from an infested area in accordance with the method of Claim 1, comprising:
an enclosure for enclosing the infested area; and
means for filling the enclosure with an inert gas containing insufficient breathable oxygen to sustain animal life therein.

8. The device according to Claim 7, wherein said enclosure is a plastic or rubber cap for covering the head of a human being whose scalp has been infested with lice and nits.

9. The device according to either of Claims 7 or 8, wherein said means for filling the enclosure with the inert gas comprises a tube having one end leading into said enclosure, and its opposite end connected to a source of inert gas.

10. The device according to Claim 9, wherein said source of inert gas comprises a holder for a pressurized-gas cartridge.

Drawing