VACUUM THERAPY APPARATUS WITH ULTRASONIC STIMULATION

Abstract

 Invention belongs to the field of medicine and can be used to stimulate blood circulation not only on surface of a body but also in internal organs, such as lungs, in case of respiratory disorders. The vacuum therapy apparatus with ultrasound stimulation comprises a vacuum cup with a central hole in which a vacuum supply tube is installed, and a flat ring surface is formed on the upper part of the vacuum cup around the neck, the width of the plane corresponds to the width of the piezoceramic rings pressed from above by a bushing. The mechanical vacuum pump, controlled by the controller, creates a negative pressure inside the vacuum cup, which can be constant or modulated at low-frequency (1 Hz to 30 Hz), i.e., pulsating vacuum, which excites a low-frequency mechanical vibrations of the part of the body affected by the vacuum cup, thus improving the therapeutic effect. The vibrations of the piezoceramic rings are excited from the controller synchronously with the vacuum pump.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The invention belongs to medical field and is related to blood circulation stimulation devices, and more precisely to a vacuum therapy apparatus and its control method suitable for use for blood circulation stimulation not only for a body surface but also for stimulation of blood circulation of internal organs, such as lungs, in case of breathing disorders.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Breathing stimulation systems as well as entire body vibrotherapy can facilitate breathing, improve physical capacity and quality of life in difficult conditions, such as COVID-19, cystic fibrosis, COPD or after a lung transplantation.

[0003] It is known that vacuum therapy improves peripheral blood circulation, tissue nutrition and accelerates blood flow. Various shaped nozzles are used for vacuum therapy, e.g. cup-shaped caps that, when suctioned to skin, create a vacuum and draw the skin into concave cavity of the cup-shaped cap. It promotes blood flow to the tissues and activates metabolism, lymph circulation, stimulates microcirculation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, and increases the number of leukocytes and erythrocytes in the blood. Supply of oxygen to the tissues is improved an after a certain number of procedures the skin becomes visibly firmer, more elastic, and smoother.

[0004] US patent application No. US2016/0361573 and US patent No. US9,827,449 discloses an ultrasound therapy system that includes a piezoelectric transducer with a controller. The piezoelectric transducer with the controller is designed to be attached to a body surface and emit focused ultrasound frequency acoustic energy which create a thermal effect zone at a certain depth of the biological tissue to achieve the desired therapeutic effect on the internal organ. Disadvantage of the system is that the very high frequency (from 2 MHz to 25 MHz) ultrasonic vibrations emitted by the piezoelectric transducer, due to the high attenuation of acoustic energy, therapeutically affects only the biological tissues on the surface of the body (up to 5 cm deep).

[0005] US patent No. US7,542,797 discloses an electrotherapy apparatus that applies low to medium frequency (2 Hz to 10000 Hz) electrical signals to a local area of a body surface. The electrotherapy apparatus includes a cup-shaped body with electrical signal electrodes and a controller installed in it. With the help of vacuum the cup-shaped body is pressed onto surface of a human body, and the electrodes, which are used to deliver electrical signal of a certain frequency and voltage are in elastic contact with the human body. Main drawback of the apparatus is that together with the vacuum formed in the cup-shaped body, electric pulses of a certain frequency and voltage (in the frequency range from 2 Hz to 10 kHz, voltage up to 250 V) are used for therapy which provide a therapeutic effect from the controller through the electrodes touching human body only for biological tissues close to the surface. In addition, the specified therapy system is quite complex and does not have the ability to focus the pulses created by the electric field on the desired internal organ.

[0006] US patent application No. US 2016/0361479 discloses a constant vacuum pressure device that includes a cup-shaped cap and a mechanical air pressure regulator with a vacuum supply element built into it. Main drawback of the device is that it does not have a therapeutic effect on deep biological tissues and organs.

[0007] The invention does not have the above disadvantages and includes additional advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The invention is an apparatus for vacuum therapy with ultrasound stimulation. The apparatus comprises a piezoelectric transducer, a vacuum cup, a vacuum pump and a controller. The apparatus makes it possible to increase efficiency of therapeutic effect by using a resonant vibration generation system that combines a piezoelectric transducer, a vacuum cup, a vacuum pump and a controller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0009] The invention is explained in the drawing. The attached diagram is an integral part of the description of the invention and is provided as a reference to the possible embodiment of the invention but is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[0010] Fig. 1 shows a diagram of the vacuum therapy device with ultrasound stimulation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The invention according to the embodiment and figure 1 comprises a vacuum cup (1) with a concavity, including a central hole in which a vacuum supply tube (2) is installed, and a flat annular surface (3) formed around the neck in the upper part of the vacuum cup (1), wherein the width of the plane corresponds to the width of the piezoceramic rings (4) which act as piezoelectric transducers, pressed from above by a bushing (5), where mechanical vibrations of ultrasonic frequency are excited with the help of the controller (6) in said piezoceramic rings (4), where a vacuum pump (7) is also controlled by the same controller (6).

[0012] The method of controlling the vacuum therapy apparatus with ultrasound stimulation according to the invention comprises placing the vacuum cup (1) on an area of a human body surface prepared for therapeutic effect, turning on the vacuum pump (7), which pumps out air from the vacuum cup (1) through the vacuum supply tube (2) thereby fixing the vacuum cup (1) to the surface of the user's body. At the same time and synchronously with start of the vacuum pump the electrical signal from the controller (6) is fed to the piezoceramic rings (4), the mechanical vibrations of which excite resonant vibrations of the vacuum cup (1) and, at the same time, in the place of contact with the body surface it causes ultrasonic, i.e., stimulating effect. The vacuum pump (7), controlled by the controller (6), creates in the vacuum cup (1) a negative pressure which can be constant or modulated by low-frequency, for example 1 Hz - 30 Hz, i.e., pulsating vacuum which excites low-frequency mechanical vibrations of the part of the body affected by the vacuum cup, improving a therapeutic effect. At the same time the piezoceramic rings (4) are excited from the controller (6) by an electrical signal which frequency coincides with the resonant frequency of the dynamic system, namely: the cup (1) - the piezoceramic rings (4) - and the bushing (5) - in the ultrasonic range from 20 kHz up to 100 kHz. Resonant vibrations of the ultrasonic frequency of the vacuum cup together with a pulsating or constant vacuum create a stimulating effect on the blood circulation of both superficial and deep biological tissues.

[0013] The vacuum therapy apparatus, with the help of the actuator can be used to stimulate biological tissues with the ultrasound and low-frequency vibrations continuously or with certain breaks. Vacuum therapy performed in this way with ultrasound and low-frequency mechanical vibration stimulation increases the effectiveness of the therapeutic procedure.

Claims

1. A vacuum therapy apparatus comprising a vacuum cup with a central hole in which a vacuum supply tube is installed, a mechanical pressure regulator with an air inlet element, a vacuum pump and a controller, characterized in that it further comprises a flat annular surface (3) formed on upper part of the vacuum cup (1) around neck, with piezoceramic rings (4) positioned on the flat annular surface (3), and a bushing (5) pressing the piezoceramic rings (4) against the flat annular surface (3) from above where the plane width of the flat annular surface (3) corresponds to the width of the piezoceramic rings ( 4), pressed from above by the bushing (5).

2. A method of controlling the vacuum therapy apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a controller (6) controls operation of a vacuum pump (7) and excitation of mechanical vibrations of the piezoceramic rings (4) so that the vacuum pump (7) and the piezoceramic rings (4) operate simultaneously wherein the mechanical vibrations generated by the piezoceramic rings (4) resonate with the vacuum cup (1) and act as a tuned resonant system.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the resonant frequency is in the ultrasonic range from 20 kHz to 100 kHz.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the vacuum pump (7) controlled by the controller (6) creates a negative pressure in the vacuum cup (1) where the negative pressure is modulated at a frequency from 1 Hz to 30 Hz.

Drawing