Surgery – Magnetic field applied to body for therapy – Externally supported or worn
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-17
2001-06-12
Gilbert, Samuel G. (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Magnetic field applied to body for therapy
Externally supported or worn
Reexamination Certificate
active
06245006
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to magnet assemblies, and has particular reference to the construction of magnet assemblies for application to the human body for therapeutic purposes.
There is growing support for the belief that magnetic therapy is an effective non-invasive, no-side-effects treatment that can speed recovery from a variety of conditions ranging from tendinitis and back pain to migraine headaches and a neuromuscular condition known as fibromyalgia. While the results of medical testing is regarded, at least by some, as inconclusive, many people believe, particularly in the alternative medicine field, that the application of one or more small, powerful magnets to the area of an injury will relieve pain and accelerate healing.
The use of therapeutic magnets has become popular among professional athletes, particularly golfers, and among a growing segment of the general population, even though there is a lack of a complete understanding of how they work. One view is that magnets affect pain receptors in the body, and one source claims that they suppress nerve cell action potentials by affecting the electrical potential across the cell membrane of a sensory neuron. This theory is stated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,321, which also discloses a magnet device for application to the body for therapeutic purposes. This device comprises generally a plurality of permanent magnets that are embedded in a mass of plastic material forming a flat containment body. This body permanently holds the magnets in a selected arrangement and orientation, believed to be important for generation of the desired magnetic field. A thin woven sheath also is suggested, but not shown, as a housing for the magnets.
The present invention is an improvement in the construction of the holder for a magnet assembly of the same general kind that is disclosed in the aforesaid patent, providing an improved magnet assembly that can be mass-produced economically in large numbers, and which is highly effective for its intended purpose. The holder effectively receives, positions and holds one or more permanent magnets of selected size and shape, preferably with an armature of ferrous material for enhancing the magnetic properties of the assembly, and houses the magnets in a manner that enhances the comfort of the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For the foregoing purposes, the magnet holder of the present invention comprises a flexible plastic body sheet having indentations in one of its sides defining cavities in the sheet corresponding in size and shape to the size and shape of the magnets to be held and the armature of the assembly, when an armature is to be included, and a flexible plastic cover sheet for overlying the indented side of the body sheet and covering the cavities after the pieces of the magnet assembly have been placed therein, the cover sheet being attachable to the body sheet around the cavities to complete the assembly.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the cover and body sheets are composed of the same material and are integrally joined together along corresponding sides, for folding of the cover sheet into its covering position and final attachment to the body sheet. The preferred flexible sheet material is plastic in which the indentations can be thermoformed and which can be heat-sealed together, and the indentations are in the form of a four-lobed upper cavity for holding four disk magnets immediately beneath the cover sheet and an annular cavity in the bottom wall of the cavity for holding the armature.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4656068 (1987-04-01), Raines
patent: 5074416 (1991-12-01), Hustad
patent: 5312321 (1994-05-01), Holcomb
patent: 5707333 (1998-01-01), Bakst
patent: 5803260 (1998-09-01), Tilton
patent: 5813971 (1998-09-01), Broderick
patent: 5849378 (1998-12-01), Gask
patent: 6048303 (2000-04-01), Porter
Gilbert Samuel G.
Orion Medical Group Inc.
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