FITTING DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING ELECTRODE BELTS

Abstract

The present invention refers to a shapewear device for the adjustment of an electrode belt around the body of a human or animal patient. The device of the present invention comprises: one tensioner body; at least one first arm and one second arm; both arms stretching out from the tensioner body in opposite directions, each arm has a free end comprising at least one means of fastening to an electrode belt.

Claims

1. A shapewear device for adjustment of an electrode belt, wherein the shapewear device comprises: a tensioner body; a first arm and a second arm, both arms extending from the tensioner body in opposite directions, each arm having a free end comprising at least one fastening element for attachment to an electrode belt of an electrical impedance tomography device.

2. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the tensioner body comprises a bulged profile.

3. The shapewear device of claim 2, wherein the tensioner body has a protruding central portion and at least two lateral portions opposite one another and in relation to the central portion, wherein the lateral portions have less protrusion in comparison to the central portion.

4. The shapewear device of claim 2, wherein the tensioner body has a protruding central portion and at least to lateral portions opposite one another and in relation to the central portion, wherein the lateral portions have equal protrusion in comparison to the central portion.

5. The shapewear device of claim 4, wherein each arm stretches out from a lateral portion of the protruding tensioner body.

6. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the tensioner body comprises a deformable material enveloped by a non-woven fabric casing.

7. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the arms are made of non-woven fabric.

8. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the fastening element on an electrode belt comprises a hook-and-loop tape.

9. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein each arm stretches out from a lateral portion of the protruding tensioner body.

10. The shapewear device of claim 3, wherein each arm stretches out from a lateral portion of the protruding tensioner body.

11. The shapewear device of claim 2, wherein the bulged profile is formed by a protruding central portion and at least two side portions opposite each other in relation to the protruding central portion.

12. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the tensioner body has an elongated block shape.

13. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the tensioner body has round shape.

14. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the fastening element on an electrode belt comprises an adhesive material.

15. The shapewear device of claim 6, wherein the deformable material is foam.

16. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the fastening element for each arm is located on an upper face of a free end for the respective arm.

17. The shapewear device of claim 1, wherein the first arm and the second arm are formed as a single strip of non-woven fabric.

18. A method of operating a shapewear device with an electrode belt of an electrical impedance tomography device, the method comprising: placing a tensioner body of the shapewear device on the electrode belt that is already placed around a patient; pressing a bulging central portion of the tensioner body against the electrode belt; and securing fastening elements of the shapewear device to the electrode belt, the fastening elements located on free ends of arms extending on opposite sides of the bulging central portion.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the bulging central portion includes a deformable material enveloped by a casing material.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the deformable material is foam, and the casing material is a non-woven fabric.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The objectives, functional improvements and advantages of the shapewear device, object of the present disclosure, will be clear to those skilled in the art from the description below made in regard to a preferred embodiment, which makes references to the attached figures. The figures are schematic, and their dimensions or proportions may not correspond to reality, they only aim at describing the disclosure didactically.

[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a shapewear device of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates a side elevational view of the shapewear device of the present disclosure; and

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The disclosure is now described regarding its preferred embodiments, referring to the attached figures. In the following figures and description, similar parts are marked throughout the descriptive report and figures with the same reference numbers. The figures are not necessarily in scale. Certain characteristics of the disclosure may be shown with exaggeration of scale or schematically, and some details of conventional elements may not be shown in order to illustrate this description in a more clear and concise way. The present disclosure is sensitive to embodiments carried in different ways. Specific embodiments are described in details and shown in the figures, with the understanding that the description must be considered an example of its principles, and the purpose is not to limit the disclosure only to what is illustrated and described in the present descriptive report. We must acknowledge that the different teachings of the embodiments discussed next may be separately employed or in any appropriate combination to provide the same results desired.

[0023] As it may be seen from FIG. 1, a shapewear device 1 of the present disclosure comprises a tensioner body 3, a first arm 2A and a second arm 2B. The tensioner body 3 has a bulged profile, formed by a protruding central portion 5 and two lateral portions 6A and 6B that have less protrusion in comparison to the central portion 5. Besides, the figures show that the lateral portions 6A and 6B are opposite one another and in relation to the central portion 5.

[0024] In an alternative performance of the present disclosure, shown on FIG. 3, the tensioner body 3 also has a protruding central portion 5 and at least two lateral portions 6A, 6B opposite one another in relation to the central portion 5. The lateral portions 6A, 6B, however, have essentially the same protrusion in comparison to the central portion 5.

[0025] In the preferred embodiment represented in the figures, the tensioner body 3 has the shape of a substantially elongated block; in preferred embodiments, however, the tensioner body 3 may carry other shapes. For example, the tensioner body 3 could be substantially round, having a protruding central area and at least two less protruding side areas, that is, “lower”, in comparison to the central portion. Various sizes of the tensioner body 3 and arms 2A and 2B are also possible.

[0026] As it is seen on the figures, the arms 2A and 2B stretch out from the tensioner body 3 in opposite directions and, more precisely, each arm 2A and 2B stretches out from a lateral portion 6A, 6B of the tensioner body 3. Still, each of the arms 2A, 2B have a free end 7A and 7B, wherein each free end 7A and 7B comprises means of fastening 4 to an electrode belt. There are several means of fastening within the scope of the present disclosure; nonetheless, just to draw an example, the means of fastening may consist of a hook tape or even adhesives.

[0027] Regarding the material used for the production of the present disclosure's shapewear device, the tensioner body 3 may be made of a deformable material enveloped by a casing made of a material that is not aggressive to the patient's body. In the preferred embodiment here exemplified, the tensioner body 3 is made of foam and its casing of non-woven fabric. The arms 2A and 2B, in turn, are also made of non-woven fabric in the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment of the present disclosure the arms 2A and 2B may be made of one single strip of non-woven fabric, over which the inferior part of the tensioner body 3 is placed, which, then, is enveloped with more strips of the non-woven fabric, interconnected, in order to make the casing on its body.

[0028] As it is possible to notice on FIGS. 1 and 3, the means of fastening 4 are placed on the upper face of the free ends 7A, 7B. According to this layout, the tensioner body 3 is placed on an electrode belt already put around a patient. The position of the tensioner body 3 is such that its central portion 5 faces the electrode belt against the patient's body in an area where there is a gap between the belt and the body. After pressing the central portion 5 against the belt and, consequently, against the gap, keeping the belt tight on the patient's body, the free ends 7A and 7B of the shapewear device are fastened on the belt, by the means of fastening 4. The electrode belt can still be placed inside a non-woven fabric casing, to make its contact with the patient's body more comfortable. In this case, the means of fastening 4 must be specific for the fastening on this material of the shapewear device 1 of the present disclosure, such as the already mentioned hook-and-loop type tape.

[0029] This way, the present disclosure, by means of its unique and innovative features, fills the existing gap in the state of the art, solving technical problems, among which those related to the existing gap between the patient's body and the electrode belt of electrical impedance tomography.

[0030] Despite the shapewear device being especially useful to tightly fasten an electrode belt around a patient's body, the present disclosure can be implemented in other ways of applications and it may show modifications in the manner it is implemented, so that the scope of protection of the disclosure is only limited by the content of the following claims, including the possible equivalent variations.