Tissue treatment by normothermic heating
View Patent ↗An apparatus for treating tissue in a tissue treatment area includes a heater that does not contact the tissue. The apparatus may be attached to the skin of a person to form a treatment volume about the tissue to be treated. The heater, supported at the layer, is held near the tissue to be treated, out of contact with the tissue. The apparatus includes a controller to cause the heater to raise the temperature of tissue in the tissue treatment area to a temperature in a range from a pretreatment temperature to 38° C. The controller may include means that cause the heater to operate over a therapeutic sequence, that cycle the heater on and off, that provide selectable average temperature values, that cause the heater to operate over an average temperature range, that cause the heater to operate at an average temperature over a therapy cycle, or that cause the heater to operate at an average temperature over a therapeutic sequence.
1. A covering for application to a tissue treatment area of a patient's body, said covering comprising:
a heater for providing heat to at least a portion of the tissue treatment area;
flexible attachment means for attaching the heater in a non-contact position proximate the tissue treatment area; and
a controller connected to the heater for causing the heater to raise the temperature of tissue in the tissue treatment area to a temperature in a range from a pretreatment temperature to 38° C.
2. An apparatus for treating tissue on a patient's body, the apparatus comprising:
an attachment device having a first and a second surface, and an opening;
a layer on the first surface, over the opening;
an attachment portion at the second surface; and,
a heater supported by the layer, over the opening;
a controller to cause the heater to raise the temperature of tissue under the opening to a temperature in a range from a pretreatment temperature to 38° C.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the opening extends from the first surface to the second surface.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 , in which the heater is an active heater.
5. The apparatus of claim 2 , in which the heater is selected from the group containing warm water pads, chemical heating pads, and phase-change salt pads.
6. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller including a means for causing the heater to raise the temperature of the tissue from the pretreatment temperature to 38° C.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , in which the heater is an active heater.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , which the heater is an electrical heater.
9. The apparatus of claim 2 , further including means on the layer for receiving the heater.
10. The apparatus of claim 2 , in which the attachment device is a ring.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , in which the ring is a sealing ring.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the sealing ring is made of a polymeric foam material.
13. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller including means for causing the heater to operate at an average temperature over a therapeutic sequence.
14. The apparatus of claim 2 , the therapeutic sequence including a plurality of therapy cycles.
15. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller including means for cycling the operation of the heater on and off.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the controller includes programmable means for cycling the operation of the heater over a duty cycle.
17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the controller includes programmable means for cycling the operation of the heater over a therapy cycle.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the therapy cycle includes a plurality of duty cycles.
19. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the controller includes programmable means for controlling the operation of the heater over a therapeutic sequence, the therapeutic sequence including one or more therapy cycles, each therapy cycle including one or more duty cycles.
20. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controller includes selectable average temperature values, each indicating an average temperature of the heater.
21. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller including means for causing the heater to operate at an average temperature over a duty cycle.
22. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller including means for causing the heater to operate at an average temperature over a therapy cycle.
23. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller including means for causing the heater to operate at an average temperature over a therapeutic sequence.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 , the therapeutic sequence including a plurality of therapy cycles.
25. The apparatus of claim 24 , each therapy cycle including a plurality of duty cycles.