JPS5828581Y2 - Rheumatism cryotherapy device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an apparatus used for low-temperature treatment of rheumatism.

Recently, as a treatment for rheumatism, so-called low-temperature therapy has been used, which is characterized by applying cold air to the affected area of the patient to temporarily paralyze the affected area, relieve the pain, and then encourage the patient to exercise actively.

Since the cold air used in this treatment method is required to be at an extremely low temperature, it is possible to use an extremely low temperature liquefied gas such as liquid nitrogen or liquid oxygen, but it is not easily implemented due to various problems.

For example, if liquid nitrogen is vaporized and used as low-temperature nitrogen gas, it will lead to oxygen deficiency in the treatment room, and liquid oxygen is not preferable from a safety standpoint.

As a way to eliminate this inconvenience, it is possible to mix liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen, or to vaporize them and then mix them and use them as a low-temperature gas with an air composition. It is difficult to obtain sufficient low-temperature gas, and the above-mentioned disadvantages cannot be overcome.

This invention was proposed based on these circumstances, and an air cooler that is supplied with unlubricated air compressed by a compressor is equipped with an internal cooling coil that supplies low-temperature liquefied gas such as liquid nitrogen. The injector is connected to the air cooler through an insulated pipe, and the low-temperature air that has exchanged heat with the low-temperature liquefied gas is emitted from the injector. To provide a low-temperature treatment device for rheumatism which can be easily and safely used under any conditions by using air separately instead of using liquefied gas as cold air blown to the affected area.

An example of the illustrated embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. An air compressor 2 sucks air from the atmosphere through a dust remover 1 and compresses it.
is communicated with an air accumulator 5 via a water cooler 3 and a condenser 4.

Therefore, the air in the atmosphere is removed from dirt and dust in the dust remover 1, and then sucked into the compressor 2, where it is compressed to 2 to 4 kg/cm2 without lubrication, and then passed through the water cooler 3 and condenser 4. The heat of compression is removed, and a portion of the moisture contained is separated and sent to the gas accumulator 5.

The air accumulator 5 is provided to control fluctuations in the amount of air used, and is communicated with an air cooler 7 via a heater 6.

As will be described later, the heater 6 is not operated during treatment but is used at the end of the treatment, and 8 is a safety valve.

The air cooler 7 has an adiabatic structure, and is provided with a two-stage cooling coil 9 inside, which is communicated with a liquid nitrogen storage tank 10 via a temperature controller 11.
The liquid nitrogen supplied from this storage tank 10 is supplied to the temperature control valve 1
The introduced air is cooled in the process of flowing through the coil 9 through the coil 9.

Nitrogen gas, which is vaporized and heated by cooling the introduced air, is released into the atmosphere through a pressure holding valve 12 connected to the cooling coil 9.

On the other hand, the air introduced into the air cooler 7 is cooled from room temperature to about -160°C in the first stage cooling coil 9.
At this time, the remaining water content and carbon dioxide gas are solidified and separated.

It then comes into contact with the second stage of the cooling coil 9 and is cooled down to about -180° C. by the latent heat of vaporization of liquid nitrogen, and then passes through the heat insulating piping 13 to reach the operation panel 14 .

The operation panel 14 mainly controls the amount of cold air sprayed, the spray time, etc., and is equipped with instruments that can arbitrarily control these.
is connected to.

The configuration of the injector 16 may be arbitrary, other than providing a large number of ejection holes, but it is preferable that the outer surface has a heat insulating structure.

Note that the temperature of the low-temperature air to be sprayed is desired to be extremely low and stable, but this can be done by keeping the pressure inside the cooling coil 9 at, for example, 2 kg/cm2 with the pressure holding valve 12. The liquid nitrogen temperature can be maintained at -185°C.

Therefore, the air temperature leaving the cooler 7 is -180°C or higher,
Moreover, air can be supplied without being liquefied.

In addition, the supply amount of liquid nitrogen is determined by detecting the temperature inside the air cooler 7.
Since the temperature control valve 11 is controlled by the temperature control valve 11, which automatically opens and closes according to this instruction, the necessary cold can be stably supplied without waste.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, first, the temperature control valve 11 is opened to supply liquid nitrogen into the air cooler 7,
The inside of this cooler 7 is pre-cooled.

Once the inside of the air cooler 7 has been cooled to a desired temperature, the air supply system is activated to introduce air into the air cooler 7 and start cooling.

In this case, the inside of the air cooler 7 is pre-cooled because moisture and carbon dioxide in the supplied air are absorbed by the heat insulating pipes 13 and 15 after the air cooler 7.
This is to avoid any inconvenience caused by the liquid being entrained in, the operation panel 14, or the injector 16 and solidified.

Therefore, after precooling to a temperature at which carbon dioxide gas is solidified and separated in the air cooler 7, air is supplied, and when the air is cooled to a predetermined temperature, for example, -180°C, the operation panel 14 is set and treatment begins. do.

In the treatment, cold air jetted or sprayed from the injector 16 is placed above the affected area of the patient at appropriate intervals, and the cool air is brought into contact with the affected area intermittently for a predetermined period of time.

After treatment for a predetermined number of patients or after a predetermined treatment time, the temperature control valve 11 is closed to cut off the supply of liquid nitrogen, and the heater 6 is started to heat the air introduced into the heater 6 to about 120°C. Warm up.

This heated air is supplied into the air cooler 7, and when used for treatment, the cooling coil 9, etc., is used to evaporate ice, solid carbon dioxide, etc. that are separated from the air stuck in the air cooler 7. After discharging these and drying the inside of the low-temperature system, the apparatus is stopped.

According to the rheumatism treatment device according to the present invention, low-temperature cold air equivalent to that obtained when liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen are used alone or in combination can be easily obtained.

Moreover, it is safe to use and there is no risk of oxygen deficiency, so it can be used in any location.

In the above embodiments, changes such as changing the air cooler using an adsorbent for dehumidification to a two-column switching type and using liquid oxygen as the cooling source may be made as appropriate.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a system diagram showing one embodiment of the therapeutic device of the present invention. 1 is a dust remover, 2 is a compressor, 3 is a water cooler, 4 is a condenser,
5 is an air accumulator, 6 is a heater, 7 is an air cooler, 8 is a safety valve, 9 is a cooling coil, 10 is a liquid nitrogen storage tank, 11 is a temperature control valve, 12 is a pressure holding valve, 13 is insulation piping, 14 is an operation 15 is a heat insulating pipe, and 16 is an injector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An air cooler that is supplied with unlubricated air compressed by a compressor is equipped with a cooling coil that supplies low-temperature liquefied gas such as liquid nitrogen, and an injector is connected to the air cooler through an insulated pipe. A low-temperature treatment device for rheumatism, characterized in that the low-temperature treatment device for rheumatism is connected to the low-temperature liquefied gas, and the low-temperature air heat-exchanged with the low-temperature liquefied gas is emitted from an injector.