ELECTRONIC TEXTILE BASED RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS THERAPY GLOVE

Abstract

The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove is for treating deformities in finger joints and wrist area caused by rheumatoid arthritis and treating chronic pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis disease.

Claims

1-16. (canceled)

17. An electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove for treatment of deformities in finger joints and wrist area caused by rheumatoid arthritis disease and pain management, the glove comprising: a control unit comprising at least one easily assemblable and disassemblable snap fastener structure, enabling electrical stimulation for treatment of pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis, and located on said glove; and a signal transmission line located on inner and outer portions of the glove such that it corresponds to pain points of the finger joints affected by the rheumatoid arthritis disease, transmitting electrical stimulation received from said control unit to patient skin, from textile electrodes and the control unit to said textile electrodes and carrying the signal.

18. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17 further comprising: a textile electrode formed with handling of conductive yarns on polyester knitted fabric as a consequence of the optimization of computer assisted embroidery parameters.

19. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17, further comprising: at least one signal transmission line for which conductive yarn is used and which is used with embroidery on polyester textile surface.

20. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17, wherein said control unit comprises at least one easily assemblable and disassemblable snap fastener structure thanks to the snap fastener structure thereof.

21. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 19, further comprising: a signal transmission line insulation located around said signal transmission line.

22. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 21, wherein said signal transmission line insulation is comprised of thermoplastic membrane material.

23. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17, further comprising: joint compression and immobilization lamina enabling immobilization for treatment of swan-neck and buttonhole (boutonniere) deformations formed in finger joints caused by rheumatoid arthritis disease, and located such that it will run transversely in upper portion of second joints of the fingers and linearly in the rear portion thereof.

24. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17, further comprising: a plastic immobilization support used for treatment of ulnar deviation caused by rheumatoid arthritis disease.

25. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 24, further comprising: an immobilization support pocket enabling positioning of said immobilization support on said glove.

26. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17, further comprising: a wristlet preventing ulnar deviation by starting from the end of little finger of the patient and being wrapped around the wrist portion of the glove, and enabling wrist stabilization.

27. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 26, further comprising: a wristlet fixation apparatus enabling fixation of said wristlet.

28. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 23, wherein said joint compression and immobilization lamina is comprised of thermoplastic polyurethane membrane material with compression feature.

29. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 18, further comprising a plurality of textile electrodes being twelve in total, with six on the upper portion of said glove and six on the inner portion thereof.

30. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 28, wherein the textile electrodes on the upper portion of said glove are positioned to correspond to the first joint of the fingers and wrist of the patient.

31. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 28, wherein the textile electrodes on the inner portion of said glove are positioned to correspond to the second joint of the fingers and wrist of the patient.

32. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 18, wherein said textile electrode is comprised of silver-covered polyamide conductive yarn material.

33. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 18, wherein said textile electrode is formed as a result of embroidery of the silver-covered polyamide conductive yarn material with certain patterns, seam density and seam length as a consequence of computer assisted embroidery parameters optimization.

34. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17, wherein said signal transmission line is comprised of silver-covered conductive yarn material.

35. The electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to claim 17, wherein said signal transmission line is produced by embroidering the silver-covered polyamide conductive yarn material onto the textile surface as integrated with the electrodes.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] FIG. 1 is a representative view of the electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove according to the invention.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0040] 1. Plastic Immobilization Support

[0041] 2. Plastic Immobilization Support Pocket

[0042] 3. Control Unit

[0043] 4. Textile Electrodes

[0044] 5. Joint compression and immobilization lamina

[0045] 6. Signal Transmission Line

[0046] 7. Signal Transmission Line Insulation

[0047] 8. Wristlet

[0048] 9. Wristlet Fixing Apparatus

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0049] In this detailed description, the novelty according to the invention is only disclosed for better understanding of the subject without forming any limiting effect.

[0050] The invention relates to a therapy glove, which consists of textile electrodes (4) formed by processing of conductive yarns on polyester knitted fabric via optimization of computer-assisted embroidery parameters, a signal transmission line (6), and a control unit (3) attached to this line by metal snap fasteners, and which can perform electrical stimulation.

[0051] The invention is an electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove used for treating deformities and managing pain in finger joints and wrist area caused by rheumatoid arthritis, characterized in that; it comprises: a control unit (3) positioned on said glove providing electrical stimulation for the treatment of finger joint pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis disease, and can be attached and detached easily due to its snap fastener structure, textile electrodes (4) transmitting the electrical stimulation signal received from said control unit (3) to the skin of the patient, positioned at the glove posterior and anterior areas such that they would correspond to the points of pain at the finger joints affected from the rheumatoid arthritis disease, and formed by processing of conductive yarns on polyester knitted fabric via optimization of computer-assisted embroidery parameters, a signal transmission line (6) carrying the signal transmitted from the control unit (5) to said textile electrodes (4) and formed by processing on polyester textile surface by using silver coated polyamide conductive yarn.

[0052] FIG. 1 shows a front view of the electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove (1) according to the invention.

[0053] Said electronic textile based rheumatoid arthritis therapy glove consists of the main components of: a plastic immobilization support (1) used for treatment of ulnar deviation caused by rheumatoid arthritis, an immobilization support pocket (2) allowing said immobilization support (1) to be positioned on said glove, a control unit (3) positioned on said glove providing electrical stimulation for the treatment of finger joint pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis disease, and can be attached and detached easily due to its snap fastener structure, textile electrodes (4) transmitting the electrical stimulation signal received from said control unit (3) to the skin of the patient and positioned at the glove anterior and posterior areas such that they would correspond to the points of pain at the finger joints affected from the rheumatoid arthritis disease, a joint compression and immobilization lamina (5) providing immobilization for the treatment of swan-neck and buttonhole (boutonniere) deformations formed at the finger joints due to rheumatoid arthritis disease and positioned at the upper region of the second joints of the fingers in transverse form and at the rear region thereof in straight form, a signal transmission line (6) carrying the signal transmitted from the control unit (3) to said textile electrodes (4) and formed by processing on polyester textile surface by using conductive yarn, a signal transmission line insulation (7) made of thermoplastic membrane material and ensuring electrical insulation of said signal transmission line (6), a wristlet (8) for preventing ulnar deviation and ensuring wrist stabilization by being wrapped around the wrist area of the glove, starting from the little finger tip of the patient, and a wristlet fixing apparatus (9) ensuring fixing of said wristlet (8).

[0054] Said plastic immobilization support (1) prevents ulnar deviation caused by rheumatoid arthritis disease by being attached to the plastic immobilization support pocket (2) positioned on said glove, and ensures that the wrist joint stays in a stabilized position.

[0055] Said wristlet (8) starts from the tip of the little finger, is wrapped around the wrist part of the glove, and thus also ensures ulnar deviation and wrist stabilization. Said wristlet (8) is fixed by a wristlet fixing apparatus (9).

[0056] Said joint compression and immobilization lamina (5) is positioned at the upper region of the second joints of the fingers in transverse form and at the rear region thereof in straight form, and it is formed by lamination of thermoplastic polyurethane membranes with compression characteristics on the polyester textile surface under a certain temperature and pressure. Said joint compression and immobilization lamina (5) allows treatment of swan-neck and buttonhole (boutonniere) deformities formed at the finger joints of the patient.

[0057] Said glove comprises 12 textile electrodes (4), 6 at the posterior region and 6 at the anterior region thereof. While the textile electrodes (4) found on said glove are positioned such that they would correspond to the first joints of the fingers and the wrist, the textile electrodes (4) found at the anterior region of the glove are positioned such that they would correspond to the second joints of the fingers and the wrist. Electrical stimulation is applied by means of said textile electrodes (4) to the nerves of said patient, which send messages about pain sensation to the brain. In this way, the pain feeling of the patient is significantly reduced by disrupting the pain signals sent to brain

[0058] Said textile electrodes (4) preferably have 15 mm diameter and they are formed by processing silver coated polyamide conductive yarns on the polyester textile surface forming the glove, at certain stitch length and density, by using optimized embroidery parameters.

[0059] Said textile electrodes (4) are connected to the control unit (3) by means of the signal transmission line (6). Said signal transmission line (6) connects the textile electrodes (4) found at the upper and inner surfaces of the glove to each other and to the anode and cathode ends of said control unit (3).

[0060] Said signal transmission line (6) is formed by processing on polyester textile surface by using silver coated polyamide conductive yarn. Said signal transmission line (6) is designed such that the signal sent from the control unit (3) would be optimized to have the highest SNRdB (Signal Noise Ratio) value.

[0061] Said textile electrodes (4) and signal transmission line (6) are designed such that they would transmit low voltage electric signal at certain frequencies and pulse bandwidths to the points of pain at the finger joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis disease.

[0062] Said control unit (3) forms a signal in square wave form which can be adjusted at pulse characteristics of 0-80 imA, 2-120 Hz, and 40-260 microseconds for the treatment of chronic pain seen in finger joints due to rheumatoid arthritis disease. The signal transmission line (6) transmitting signal from said control unit (3) to said textile electrodes (4) is coated by thermoplastic membrane and the signal transmission line insulation (7) is provided from the inner and outer surfaces of the textile. Said signal transmission line insulation (7) is positioned so as to provide the highest quality signal transmission.

[0063] Said textile electrodes (4) are insulated by the same method only from the outer surface of the glove. Said signal transmission line (6) is connected to the control unit (3) via metal snap fasteners.

[0064] The glove according to the invention is washable and washing operation can be performed by removing the control unit (3) from the snap fastener. Said control unit (3) also contains the power source of the system. When required, the control unit (3) can be removed and charged.