Surgery – Truss – Perineal
Patent
1986-04-16
1988-07-05
Burr, Edgar S.
Surgery
Truss
Perineal
128 38, 128746, 128 64, A61H 2300, A61B 512, A61B 503
Patent
active
047547480
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating pneumatic pressure pulses for application to the external acoustic meatus, the ear opening, of a patient in order to influence the hydrodynamic system of the inner ear.
It has been possible to establish that changes in the hydrodynamic system of the inner ear, including the endolymph and perilymph, affect the function of the ear and can be thought to be the cause of various disease conditions. One such disease is Menieres disease, the symptoms of which are extremely troublesome to the patient, such as disturbed balance, vertigo, impaired hearing, singing noises in the ear, tinnitus, etc.. Medical tests have shown that these symptoms can be eased considerably, and in many cases completely cured, by means of a course of treatment in which pneumatic pressure pulses are applied to the external acoustic meatus of the patient, these pressure pulses propagating through the middle ear to the inner ear and there influencing the hydrodynamic system of the said inner ear. Propagation of the pressure pulses from the external acoustic meatus to the inner ear can be facilitated by implanting in the patient a transmyringial tube, made for example of Teflon.RTM.. Those tests which have been carried out with this form of treatment have shown that in order to obtain the best results, it must be possible to vary and to determine precisely, inter alia, the shape, frequency and amplitude of these pulses in respect of each individual patient.
For the purpose of generating the pressure pulses necessary in this form of treatment there has earlier been proposed, and used, apparatus which include one or more membrane pumps, pressure reservoirs, mechanically adjustable throttle devices, etc., such as described in the International Patent Application No. PCT/SE83/00013, Publication Number WO 83/02556. Great difficulties have been experienced, however, in producing with sufficient accuracy pressure pulses which have the particular parameters necessary for each individual patient, e.g. such parameters as pulse shape, frequency and amplitude, by means of these earlier proposed and used apparatus. A prime difficulty in this respect is one of avoiding the temporary occurrence of underpressure in the external acoustic meatus, such underpressures being undesirable.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for generating the pneumatic pressure pulses desired in the form of treatment aforedescribed in which those pressure-pulse parameters of interest can be readily varied and determined with a high degree of accuracy, stability and reliability.
The characterizing features of the apparatus according to the invention are set-forth in the following claims.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a typical shape of the pressure pulses to be produced by the apparatus according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a simplified pneumatic-electric block diagram of one embodiment of apparatus according to the invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplifying embodiment of a proposed, conceivable external configuration of an apparatus according to the invention; and
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplifying embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention temporarily connected to a separate programming unit.
The diagram in FIG. 1 exemplifies a typical shape of the pressure pulses to be produced by the apparatus according to the invention. The treatment cycle consists of a plurality of mutually sequential pressure pulses P, having a substantially sinusoidal modulation. Those parameters of interest when effecting treatment are: is optionally also the number of such pulse series when a plurality of pulse series is applied to the patient during the course of a single treatment period, and therewith the time lapse from the end of one pulse series to the beginning of the next.
In order to achieve the best possible results from the treatment administered, it shall be
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Burr Edgar S.
Lamb Tonya
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