Surgery: light – thermal – and electrical application – Light – thermal – and electrical application – Thermal applicators
Patent
1997-02-27
1999-04-27
Casler, Brian L.
Surgery: light, thermal, and electrical application
Light, thermal, and electrical application
Thermal applicators
607112, 607114, A61F 700
Patent
active
058975810
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to headwear for use in applying cold to a person's scalp.
It is medically known that cooling of the scalp is extremely effective in preventing hair loss induced by drugs given during chemotherapy treatment to cancer patients. The drugs given during chemotherapy are usually cytotoxic drugs. The cooling of the scalp constricts the blood supply to hair follicles in the scalp, thereby diminishing or preventing the hair follicles receiving high cytotoxic drug concentrations during the initial phases of chemotherapy. Furthermore, the coldness itself reduces the metabolism of cells of the hair follicles and thus reduces the ability of the cytotoxic drugs to act on the hair follicles. The combined effect of constricting the blood supply to the hair follicles and reducing the metabolism of the cells of the hair follicles prevents or reduces the hair loss.
It is known to cool the scalp by applying cooled gel packs or ice packs. The application of such packs is tedious and an even cooling of the scalp is not able to be achieved. An improved known method of cooling the scalp is to use an article of headwear like a helmet which contains between inner and outer skins a cold retaining medium such as a gel. The known helmets are not satisfactory in that they are not able to fit sufficiently snuggly on the heads of different persons, which heads may be of different sizes and shapes, and which heads may have different amounts of hair and hairstyles. This is an important disadvantage because the helmets are designed for re-use, for example in hospitals and similar establishments, and a wide variety of patients may need to wear the helmets.
It is an aim of the present invention to obviate or reduce the above mentioned problems.
Accordingly, the present invention provides headwear for use in applying cold to a person's scalp, which headwear is flat when it is not being worn, is foldable around a person's head when it is being worn, and is securable on the person's head by a plurality of fastener means, the headwear being such that the folding nature of the headwear and the plurality of fastener means enables the headwear to be folded as a close fit on the person's head irrespective of different persons with different shapes and sizes of head, and the headwear being such that it has double skinned portions which contain a cold retaining medium which gives up its cold to the person's scalp when the headwear is being worn, a chin strap, and a layer of insulating material for helping to prevent loss of cold from the headwear to the atmosphere.
The headwear of the present invention is advantageous in that it is able to be snuggly fitted on different sizes and shapes of head, with different amounts of hair and different types of hairstyles. The headwear can be snuggly fitted to give a tight compressive fit. The headwear is such that all parts of the head can be covered and the cold can be evenly distributed. Still further, the headwear can retain the cold better than many known types of headwear so that less numbers of cooled articles of headwear need to be worn by a patient during a period of treatment than has hitherto been necessary with many known types of headwear. A further advantage of the headwear of the present invention is that it is portable so that a patient is able to walk about, for example in order to go to the toilet or to relieve boredom, and the patient is not permanently connected to a mechanical air cooling machine. The headwear of the present invention can be produced to be of a light weight for so that it is not unduly uncomfortable to wear. Thus, for example, the headwear may be produced to weigh from 2 lbs 14 oz to 3 lbs 8 oz (1304.1-1587.6 gms)
The headwear may have a pair of straps which connect together to form the chin strap part of the headwear.
The headwear may have front flaps which connect together to form a part of the headwear for covering the front of the scalp and the temples. Preferably, there are three of the front flaps.
The headwear may have rear flaps which connect toge
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patent: 4002175 (1977-01-01), Brainard et al.
patent: 4138743 (1979-02-01), Elkins et al.
patent: 4805620 (1989-02-01), Meistrell
patent: 4854319 (1989-08-01), Tobin
patent: 4891501 (1990-01-01), Lipton
patent: 4915108 (1990-04-01), Sun
patent: 5119812 (1992-06-01), Angelo
Fronda Carl Frank
Fronda Darren Lee
Fronda Frank Derek
Carl, Darren and Claire Fronda
Carter Ryan
Casler Brian L.
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