Venous thromboembolism preventing apparatus

• US 20020151929A1
• Filed: 08/23/2001
• Published: 10/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Colin Medical Technology Corporation (Omron Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Colin Corporation (Fukuda Denshi Company Limited)
• Inventors: Goto, Masami, Nunome, Tomohiro, Nakagawa, Tsuneo
• Application Number:
  US09/934,758
• Publication Number:
  US 20020151929A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/202
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/10 Leg
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2230/30 Blood pressure A61H2230/04 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 9/0078 with intermittent or alternately inflated bladders or cuffs mattresses for preventing bed-sores with alternated pressurized chambers A61G7/05776

Abstract

An apparatus for preventing a venous thromboembolism of a living subject, including an inflatable cuff which is adapted to be wound around a body portion of the subject and applies a pressing pressure to the body portion so as to press the body portion and thereby prevent the venous thromboembolism; a blood-pressure-relating-information obtaining device which obtains blood-pressure-relating information which changes corresponding to blood pressure of the subject; a pressing-pressure determining device for determining the pressing pressure of the inflatable cuff, based on the blood-pressure-relating information obtained by the blood-pressure-relating-information obtaining device, according to a prescribed relationship between pressing pressure and blood-pressure-relating information, in which the pressing pressure increases as the blood pressure corresponding to the blood-pressure-relating information increases; and a pressing device which operates the inflatable cuff to apply the pressing pressure determined by the pressing-pressure determining device, to the body portion of the subject so as to press the body portion and thereby prevent the venous thromboembolism.

Claims

1. An apparatus for preventing a venous thromboembolism of a living subject, comprising:

an inflatable cuff which is adapted to be wound around a body portion of the subject and applies a pressing pressure to the body portion so as to press the body portion and thereby prevent the venous thromboembolism;

a blood-pressure-relating-information obtaining device which obtains blood-pressure-relating information which changes corresponding to blood pressure of the subject;

a pressing-pressure determining means for determining the pressing pressure of the inflatable cuff, based on the blood-pressure-relating information obtained by the blood-pressure-relating-information obtaining device, according to a prescribed relationship between pressing pressure and blood-pressure-relating information, in which the pressing pressure increases as the blood pressure corresponding to the blood-pressure-relating information increases; and

a pressing device which operates the inflatable cuff to apply the pressing pressure determined by the pressing-pressure determining means, to the body portion of the subject so as to press the body portion and thereby prevent the venous thromboembolism.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pressurized-fluid supplying device which supplies a pressurized fluid to the inflatable cuff so as to inflate the cuff, wherein the pressing device comprises a fluid-pressure control device which controls a pressure of the pressurized fluid present in the inflatable cuff so that the cuff applies the determined pressing pressure to the body portion of the subject.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fluid-pressure control device comprises a memory which stores the prescribed relationship in which the pressing pressure monotonously changes as the blood-pressure-relating information changes.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the memory stores the prescribed relationship in which the pressing pressure monotonously increases as the blood-pressure-relating information increases.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the memory stores the prescribed relationship in which the pressing pressure monotonously increases as the blood-pressure-relating information decreases.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blood-pressure-relating-information obtaining device comprises a blood-pressure measuring device which measures, as the blood-pressure-relating information, the blood pressure of the subject.

7. An apparatus for preventing a venous thromboembolism of a living subject, comprising:

at least two pressing bands which are adapted to be wound around a distal-side portion and a proximal-side portion of an inferior limb of the subject that are located on a distal side and a proximal side of a calf of the inferior limb, respectively, and which apply respective changeable pressing forces to the distal-side portion and the proximal-side portion, such that a distal-side one of the pressing bands earlier starts applying a corresponding one of the changeable pressing forces to the distal-side portion than the other, proximal-side pressing band starts applying the other changeable pressing force to the proximal-side portion, so as to promote flow of blood in veins of the inferior limb and thereby prevent the venous thromboembolism;

a phlebostasis-relating-information obtaining device which obtains, from at least physical information obtained from a distal-side portion of the inferior limb that is located on a distal side of a knee of the subject, phlebostasis-relating information which changes in relation with phlebostasis of the veins of the inferior limb;

a phlebostasis judging means for judging that the veins of the inferior limb have phlebostasis, when the phlebostasis-relating information obtained by the phlebostasis-relating-information obtaining device does not fall within a reference range; and

a blood-flow promoting means for operating, when the phlebostasis judging means judges that the veins of the inferior limb have phlebostasis, the distal-side and proximal-side pressing bands to apply the respective changeable pressing forces to the distal-side and proximal-side portions of the inferior limb, such that the distal-side pressing band earlier starts applying the one changeable pressing force to the distal-side portion of the inferior limb than the proximal-side pressing band starts applying the other changeable pressing force to the proximal-side portion of the inferior limb, so as to promote the flow of blood in the veins of the inferior limb and thereby prevent the venous thromboembolism.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a superior-limb-blood-pressure measuring device which iteratively measures a superior-limb blood pressure of a superior limb of the subject; and

an inferior-limb-blood-pressure measuring device which iteratively measures, as the physical information, an inferior-limb blood pressure of the distal-side portion of the inferior limb that is located on the distal side of the knee,

wherein the phlebostasis-relating-information obtaining device iteratively obtains a piece of phlebostasis-relating information based on each of the superior-limb blood pressure values iteratively measured by the superior-limb-blood-pressure measuring device and each of the inferior-limb blood pressure values iteratively measured by the inferior-limb-blood-pressure measuring device.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the inferior-limb-blood-pressure measuring device comprises an inflatable cuff which is adapted to be wound around the distal-side portion of the inferior limb that is located on the distal side of the knee, so as to measure the inferior-limb blood pressure, and wherein the distal-side pressing band comprises the inflatable cuff.

10. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein further comprising:

an inferior-limb-pulse-wave detecting device which detects, as the physical information, an inferior-limb pulse wave from the distal-side portion of the inferior limb that is located on the distal side of the knee; and

a pulse-wave-amplitude determining means for determining an amplitude of each of heartbeat-synchronous pulses of the inferior-limb pulse wave detected by the inferior-limb-pulse-wave detecting device,

wherein the phlebostasis-relating-information obtaining device iteratively obtains a piece of phlebostasis-relating information based on the determined amplitude of said each of the heartbeat-synchronous pulses of the inferior-limb pulse wave.

11. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the inferior-limb-pulse-wave detecting device comprises an inflatable cuff which is adapted to be wound around the distal-side portion of the inferior limb that is located on the distal side of the knee, so as to detect the inferior-limb pulse wave, and wherein the distal-side pressing band comprises the inflatable cuff.

12. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein further comprising:

an inferior-limb-pulse-wave detecting device which detects, as the physical information, an inferior-limb pulse wave from the distal-side portion of the inferior limb that is located on the distal side of the knee; and

a sharpness-degree determining means for determining a degree of sharpness of each of heartbeat-synchronous pulses of the inferior-limb pulse wave detected by the inferior-limb-pulse-wave detecting device,

wherein the phlebostasis-relating-information obtaining device iteratively obtains a piece of phlebostasis-relating information based on the determined degree of sharpness of said each of the heartbeat-synchronous pulses of the inferior-limb pulse wave.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the inferior-limb-pulse-wave detecting device comprises a photoelectric-pulse-wave sensor which detects, as the inferior-limb pulse wave, a photoelectric pulse wave from the distal-side portion of the inferior limb that is located on the distal side of the knee.

14. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a weight measuring device which supports an under-knee portion of the inferior limb of the living subject who is taking a face-up position, and which iteratively measures a weight of the under-knee portion, wherein the phlebostasis-relating-information obtaining device iteratively obtains a piece of phlebostasis-relating information based on each of the iteratively measured weights of the under-knee portion.

15. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a circumferential-length measuring device which iteratively measures a circumferential length of a portion of the inferior limb that is located between a knee thereof and an ankle thereof, wherein the phlebostasis-relating-information obtaining device iteratively obtains a piece of phlebostasis-relating information based on each of the iteratively measured circumferential lengths of the under-knee portion.