Systems and methods for evaluating blood circulation and early detection of cardiovascular issues

#The present disclosure relates generally to therapeutic manipulation of mammalian thermoregulation.

#The body temperature of mammals is normally tightly controlled by an autonomic regulatory system referred to herein as the thermoregulatory system. A primary effector of this regulatory system is blood flow to specialized skin areas where heat from the body core may be dissipated to the environment. Normally, when body and/or environmental temperatures are high, the dilation of certain blood vessels favors high blood flow to these skin areas, and as environmental and/or body temperatures fall, vasoconstriction reduces blood flow to these skin areas and minimizes heat loss to the environment.

#Strategic inducement of vasodilation and heat transfer in targeted portions of the body, such as the extremities, may exert positive therapeutic benefits in remote regions of the body. For example, manipulating heat transfer across the skin may change the core temperature of the mammalian body in response. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to induce such changes to an extent sufficient for therapy, given the human body's refined ability to thermoregulate to maintain temperature homeostasis or normothermia.

#FIGS. 1A and 1B are a schematic view of exemplary blood evaluation systems constructed in accordance with one aspect of the present invention

#FIG. 2 is a perspective, partially exploded view of the exemplary thermal exchange device of FIGS. 1A and 1B.

#FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting an exemplary method for evaluating blood circulation in accordance with the methods of the present invention.

#The present invention provides systems and methods for applying thermal energy to a human at normothermia to increase microcirculation, while evaluating blood circulation to monitor patient receptiveness to the treatment and to predict cardiovascular issues. The methods and apparatus of the present invention are expected to also provide beneficial results in treating a number of common ailments, including improved healing of acute and chronic wounds, and relief from neurological and hormone-relating ailments as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,679,170, 9,066,781, 9,192,509, and 9,687,385 to Muehlbauer, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

#In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a blood circulation evaluation system is provided that includes a measurement device collection and a thermal exchange device. The measurement device collection preferably has one or more measurement devices. In one embodiment, the one or more measurement devices identifies the patient, measures patient information, e.g., height, weight, temperature, pulse, and/or blood pressure, and generates and transmits one or more signals indicative of the patient information to the thermal exchange device.

#The thermal exchange device may be constructed as described in any of the aforementioned Muehlbauer patents and applications. For example, in one embodiment, the thermal exchange device provides a negative pressure environment that assists in maintaining vasodilation and enhances the transfer to energy to an arteriovenous anastomosis (AVA) vascular area of the palm of a human hand. The AVA vascular area may experience vasodilation from pre-treatment hyper-normothermia and/or heat delivered to the area from the thermal exchange member during treatment. This vasodilation increases the heat exchange between the thermal exchange member and the circulatory system by increasing blood flow and/or volume within the palm AVA's. An appendage chamber, e.g., box enclosure, clamshell, glove-like, boot-like, or sleeve-like chamber, may be used to provide a negative pressure environment while providing heating or cooling to an appendage using a thermal exchange system. While embodiments of the invention will be described further below with respect to a chamber sized and shaped to receive a hand, it is recognized that the appendage chamber may be adapted for use with other appendages containing an AVA suitable for the vasodilation methods described herein, such as vasculatures in the foot. The thermal exchange device may also monitor the thermal energy transfer to the AVA vascular area and/or one or more separate measurement devices, and evaluate and store patient treatment information for early detection of cardiovascular issues.