Modifying humidity to glabrous tissue for the treatment of migraine and other conditions
AssigneeCore Thermal, Inc.
InventorsMark L. Swyer, Iain Hueton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for improving or preventing a condition, such as the treatment of pain syndromes and migraine headaches are disclosed. A method for treating pain can include one or more of the steps including identifying a region of the patient comprising glabrous tissue; positioning the region of the patient comprising glabrous tissue into an enclosed chamber; adjusting the relative humidity of the enclosed chamber sufficient to create a physiologic effect. The method need not involve altering the temperature within the enclosed chamber.
Claims15
A system for stimulating glabrous tissue of a patient, comprising:
- a housing surrounding an enclosed chamber;
- a humidifier configured to supply only water vapor to the chamber, the water vapor resulting in humidified air within the chamber having a relative humidity of between about 80% and about 99%;
- and
- a patient port operably connected to the chamber and configured to house a region of the skin surface of a patient comprising the glabrous tissue,
- wherein the system is not configured to alter the temperature in the interior of the chamber,
- wherein the system is configured to cause the glabrous tissue to reduce heat loss through the supply of water vapor to the glabrous tissue,
- wherein the region of the skin surface of the patient is limited to a portion of the upper extremity,
- wherein the system is configured when in use to supply only water vapor via humidified air without any other gases to the glabrous tissue.
A method for treating a patient, comprising:
- positioning a region of the patient comprising glabrous tissue into an enclosed chamber, isolating the region of the patient from the remainder of the patient;
- and
- applying water vapor having a preselected first relative humidity selectively to the region of the patient comprising glabrous tissue within the enclosed chamber, wherein the first relative humidity is greater than about 80% and less than about 100%, thereby creating humidified air within the chamber and reducing heat loss by the glabrous tissue,
- wherein the method does not modify the temperature within the enclosed chamber,
- wherein no more than the patient's upper extremity is positioned within the enclosed chamber,
- wherein the method applies only water vapor via humidified air to the glabrous tissue without applying any other gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.