GB1462481A - Therapeutic cuff - Google Patents

Abstract

1462481 Treatment chambers; masks T E SPIELBERG 7 Jan 1974 [5 Jan 1973 15 Feb 1973] 00598/74 Headings A5R and A5T Apparatus for applying pressure to a body portion 134 comprises a casing 112 Fig. 9A, forming a chamber 115 surrounding said body portion, at least one flexible, adherent notched flap 140 attached to said casing and forming a fluid-tight seal between said casing and said body portion when the chamber is pressurized above atmospheric pressure, and means on said apparatus for pressurising said chamber; said casing may alternatively take the form of e.g. a mask 128, Fig. 8, which is positioned over a body portion to form a chamber therewith. In the embodiment of Fig. 9A, the pressurising means comprises a membrane 114 closing one end of the chamber 115 and being linked to a motor 126, which motor causes inward and outward motion of the membrane into the chamber thereby respectively increasing and decreasing the pressure therein. In the mask 128, valves 134 are provided for pressurising the interior chamber between the body portion and casing 130. In Fig. 9A the flap 140 provides a seal when the chamber is at a pressure below atmospheric, a flexible, resilient flap 142, extending round the open end of casing 112 and forming a closed cell 144 therein containing an expansible gas such as air, forming the seal at sub-atmospheric pressures. The flap may be formed of rubber or plastics, which may be treated e.g. with silica to increase its frictional engagement with a body surface. A viscous paste may be applied between the flap and the body portion. The pressurisation of the chamber may be either cyclic or static, and in the instance of the casing having valves connected to a pumping source, medication may be mixed with the fluid pumped, which may also be temperature regulated. The casing may be formed in various shapes to accommodate various body portions. It is stated that the mask 128 may be used in hyperbaric treatment of the eye or as a stoma cover.