Devices and methods for therapeutic heat treatment
OwnerPeter J. Dunbar, Charles Chabalinventors
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Abstract
Devices and methods for providing therapeutic heating are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the system includes a device body configured to provide heat to a portion of skin. The device body also includes a low-level heating region and a high-level heating area. The low-level heating region provides a continuous amount of heat at a first temperature, and the high-level heating area provides an intermittent amount of heat at a second temperature greater than the first temperature.
Claims14
A method of applying heat to a living body, the method comprising:
- applying a heat to a first area of the body, wherein the heat is applied by at least one first heating element at a first preset temperature;
- and
- applying intermittent amounts of heat to a plurality of second areas of the body by at least one second heating element at a second preset temperature greater than the first preset temperature, wherein the intermittent amounts of heat at the second areas of the body start and end while the heat is applied to the first area of the body, and wherein an individual first heating element is at least approximately twice as large as an individual second heating element.
A method of exciting thermal receptors in a living organism, the method comprising:
- heating a first portion of skin by at least one first heating element at a first preset temperature;
- and
- heating a second portion of skin with a burst of heat by at least one second heating element at a second preset temperature above the first preset temperature, wherein the burst of heat is applied while heating the first portion of skin, wherein the bursts of heat start and end while the heat is applied to the first portion of skin, and wherein an individual first heating element is substantially larger than an individual second heating element.
A device for providing therapeutic heat, the device comprising:
- a device body configured to provide heat to a first portion of skin with at least one first heating element and to a second portion of skin with at least one second heating element,
- wherein the first heating element applied to a low-level heating region of the body is maintained at a first preset temperature,
- wherein the second heating element applied to a high-level heating area of the body provides an intermittent amount of heat to the second portion of skin at a second preset temperature greater than the first preset temperature while the first heating element is maintained at the first preset temperature, and wherein the first portion of skin is substantially larger than the second portion of skin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.