Thermal therapy system and method of use

Abstract

A system that can be used to provide highly controlled thermal therapy and compression to both cool and heat a skin surface and a joint and surrounding tissue below the skin surface is provided. The system includes a joint conforming wrap; a power supply module for supply power to the joint conforming wrap and a cable operably coupling the wrap and the power supply module. The joint conforming wrap and power supply module include opposing thermoelectric modules. The joint conforming wrap is designed to provide heat transfer processes to the body of a patient to warm or cool the skin and a joint and surrounding tissue disposed under the skin.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION DATA[0001]This application is a non-provisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 61 / 658,028, filed on Jun. 11, 2012, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to the cooling and / or heating of a skin surface and a joint and surrounding tissue below the skin surface to alleviate pain. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus that can be used to provide highly controlled thermal therapy and compression to both cool and heat a skin surface and a joint and surrounding tissue below the skin surface.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Injury to joints and the surrounding tissue may result from a variety of activities such as for example surgery and sports injuries. Acute injuries to joints are sudden, sharp, traumatic injuries that occur immediately (or within hours) and cause pain (possibly severe pain). Most often acute injuries result from some sort of impact or trauma such as ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The thermal therapy system described in this patent is a compression therapy system that uses a joint conforming wrap with a power supply module and a fluid circulation pump to control the temperature of the system. The system includes a heat exchanger and a controller to control the thermal characteristics of the system. The system can measure and control temperature at the point of contact on the patient's skin and has the ability to set, measure, and record duration and temperature during use. The system can also be cooled using a liquid, solid, or gas. The technical effects of the invention include improved thermal control and more efficient cooling for joint therapy.

Problems solved by technology

Acute injuries to joints are sudden, sharp, traumatic injuries that occur immediately (or within hours) and cause pain (possibly severe pain).

Chronic injuries to joints, on the other hand, can be subtle and slow to develop.

They often cause dull pain or soreness and are often the result of overuse.

While this approach is simple and can be economical, it has its own complications including minimal re-usability of the elastic bandage, short life span until the ice melts and non-uniform application of cold and compression due to gradual warming of the fluid in the vicinity of the patient and irregular distribution of ice in the bag.

Further, these systems are subject to leakage and can only supply a cooling effect for a limited period of time.

There is also controversy as to whether continued application of ice results in a sudden vasodilation of the blood vessels (the hunting response) and if so, at what time this response begins and how often a cycle of constriction and dilation occurs.

Although these systems work well for applying compression and cold therapy to the injured body part, there is no unitary system that is capable of providing both cold and heat therapy.

In addition, issues remain with devices for applying cold to injured joints including the non-uniform application of the cold, leakage, and cumbersome cooling systems attached to a compression bandage affecting patient mobility.

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