Blood Circulation Enhancement Method and Apparatus

Abstract

This invention pertains to therapeutic or medical devices to improve healing, performance, or aesthetics by enhancing blood circulation to regions of the body. Blood circulation is enhanced using gravity by gradually raising and lowering the body member slowly and repeatedly from a level below the heart to a level above the heart.

Claims

1. An apparatus to repeatedly raise and lower a body member from an elevation above the heart to an elevation below the heart to enhance blood circulation in order to improve healing, performance, and aesthetics, in addition to other medical and health benefits.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1, comprising: a sling to support the body member; a support structure to suspend the sling; a gear motor to raise and lower the sling; and a flip-flop relay circuit to reverse direction.

3. A support structure as in claim 2, comprising: a vertical and a horizontal member; leg members; angle supports; pulleys; and a line connecting the sling to the gear motor as in claim 2.

4. A line as in claim 3, comprising a line passing through two metal collars that are position-able on the line to allow the patient to adjust the overall height and the range of travel of the sling as in claim 2.

5. A method to improve healing, performance, and aesthetics, in addition to other medical and health benefits by an apparatus that repeatedly raises and lowers a body member from an elevation above the heart to an elevation below the heart to enhance blood flow.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus

[0011] FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the flip-flop circuit to reverse the motor direction

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0012] Turning to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an apparatus in accordance with the invention which comprises a gear motor 1 utilizing the shaft of the gear motor as the spool around which the polyethylene line 8 is wrapped. The gear motor 1 is rigidly attached to the vertical member of the support structure 7. The polyethylene line 1 is routed up and over the sitting or laying position of the patient by pulleys 3 attached to support structure 7. A sling 2 is attached to the opposite end of the polyethylene line 8.

[0013] Two metal clamping collars 6 are positioned on the vertical portion of the polyethylene line between the normally-open inductive proximity sensor 5 and the normally-closed inductive proximity sensor 4. The clamping collars 6 are positionable along the polyethylene line to allow the height to be adjusted to the height of the patient's body member. The distance between the collars can be adjusted to determine the overall vertical travel of the body member.

[0014] When electrical power is applied to the flip-flop circuit illustrated in FIG. 2, the gear motor 1 will initially rotate in a manner to lower the elevation of the sling 2. The gear motor 1 will continue rotating in a direction to lower the elevation of the sling 2 until the upper metal collar 6 enters the inductive sensing field of the normally-open sensor 4. The presence of metal in the inductive sensing field of the normally-open sensor 4 will close the output contact of the sensor and energize the coil of a double-pole double-throw relay, as illustrated in FIG. 2, thereby reversing the direction of the gear motor 1, which reverses the direction of travel of the sling 2. The direction of travel reverses from lowering the body member to raising the body member. The gear motor will continue to rotate in a direction to raise the sling 2 until the lower metal collar enters the inductive sensing field of the normally-closed sensor 5, at which time the gear motor will reverse, the sling will reverse direction from upward to downward. This cycle will repeat until electrical power is no longer applied.