Technical field

The invention concerns a seat with anti-cellulitis effects which makes use of an area pulsed low-frequency field and a heat generated by a seat applicator with control unit, the seat applicator being placed on a seat rest. trior art

Cellulitis is a cosmetic and psychic problem of most women. Currently, over 80% of the world's female population suffer from cellulitis. Removing or attenuating outer manifestations of cellulitis is only possible via complex procedures that stress the body' and require costly equipment and the presence of a therapist. There are treatment methods of the contact type in which functional parts of the devices are in a direct contact with the body, and always have only a temporary resultant effect. Individually applicable m¾ahs and methods ¹ arc iri riiost cases of little or no effect. ^;

The disadvantages' bf current devices °for ¾he treatment of cellulitis consist in particular in that

a) they require direct contact between the active parts and the body under treatment,

b) the physical presence of professiorial' Staff is indispensable.

Experiments with' a ^! pulsed low- requency 'magnetotherapy have been performed in the treatmen 'of cellulitis. It is a non-B6htact treatment method, the essence of which consists ^* iri the induction arid force 'effects of a varying magnetic Field on the formation and motion of electrically charged particles in the dissociated medium of human tissue: Since a live drganism is mostly diamagnetic, the magnetic field will penetrate it without limitations. Present-day devices have applicators, i.e. magnetic field exciters, in the forrri of one or several large coils of insulated conductor, and the generated field enters deep below the surface of the organism.

Due to the pulsed magnetic field the cell metabolism is accelerated, with the waste products and toxifcisuBstarices being drainedlby the lymphatic system. In the system of lymphatic essels the lymph travels orily due to the muscle activity, in contrast to the blood ⁵ system with the heart as a pump. The waste products are drained to be decomposed- by the lymphatic . system or detoxicated and successively introduced initp, the. blood circulation and then removed via kidneys and a bladder. · ^{" · '}

Disadvantages , \ of . : current devices for pulsed low-frequency magnetotherapy in the treatment of cellulitis consist in that

a) they do hot ; provide for the varying magnetic field acting on a large area of skin without: the field affecting the tissue also deep below the body surface, * ^{! "} ■' ^; ■ ^■ ■ ^■

b) they mostly do not allow refraining from the physical presence and activity of an expert staff

Basically, thei above ⁵ methods are used in the treatment of cellulitis in outpatients, with the lymph being removed with an aid the so-called manual or machine-aided lymph draihagev Many of these methods require complicated instrumentation and a presence of attendant staff. Except for the (mostly ineffective) chemotherapy methods the therapy cannot be undergone in ordinary clothing or in a home envirdfin eht of the people beiti treated.

From the US006418345 patent a device is known that uses pulsed electromagnetic field, in which the respective applicator is placed in the chair seat and back rest. This device is designed for the magnetotherapy of fractures, osteoporosis, various injuries, etc. It provides a pulsed magnetic field by means of coils, which must be large enough to enable this field to reach spots deep in the organism such as muscles;'; ¥endons, bones, spine, etc. This device produces sequences of almost rectangular pulses, whose length is of the order of units of microseconds. On the othe^ hand, this device cannot be applied in procedures requiring the pulsed magnetic field to act to a depth of only a few millimetres so that only the subcutaneous layer of fat is affected.

From the US0057 8894A patent a method is known for reducing cellulitis in the human body, where pulsed electromagnetic energy is made use of. In the treatment of cellulitis this device exploits the speeding up of cell metabolism by solely the heat produced by high-frequency pulsed diathermy. This is obvious from the frequency given, which is in the range of 2.45 - 40.68 MHz. It is also evident from the power input of the device, which is as much as 120 W. But again, this device cannot be applied in procedures requiring the pulsed magnetic field to act to a depth of only a few _: millimetres so that only the subcutaneous layer of fat is affected.

From the british, patent GB2303066A a device is known that is designed for the magnetotherapy of certain injuries, for relieving the pain, etc. This device is similar to that of the US.006418345 and includes an armchair with several coils and a control panel capable of producing a pulsed low-frequency magnetic field that penetrates to spots deep in the organism. But again, this device cannot be applied in procedures requiring the pulsed magnetic field to act to a depth of only a few millimetres so that only _. the subcutaneous layer of fat is affected.

Finally, a coil arrangement for influencing biological events is known from the GB 7712820.2 patent. This device produces either a static or an alternating harmonic magn$tic': ield with a great penetration depth. The document does not mention any pulsed magnetic field. In view of the coil parameters, signal characteristics and applicafer;, configuration the. dbvice cannot be applied in procedures requiring the; pul'sed'magnetic field to act to a depth of only a few millimetres so that only the subcutaneous layer ot iai is affected.

Disclosure of the invention

The above disadvantages of the Prior Art are to a high degree coped with by a seat with anti-cellulitis effects, where the subject matter of the invention consists in that the seat rest' is ^' pidvided with a seat 'applicator, which is placed in parallel to the sitting area of the seat rest near the sitting area and is provided with a system of coils of conducting material mounted -m area configuration on a nonconducting elastic non-maghetie pad. The coils are connected, individually or in groups, via a circuit of output pdwer switches to ^! a power generator of current pulses for generating rectangular Current pulses of 1 td 100 Hz frequency within a supplied power range from ¾0 Ho 60 W per 0.5 rri ^? 0f applicator area. The control input of the power current pulse generator is connected to the control output of the control unit for the control of the supply sequence of applicator coils, frequency, width and final value ^: df ' ctift-eht ' pulses suppTyirig the applicator coils for generating tissue under treatment, up to a value of 10 millitesla. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the switching circuit is formed for successive switching of individual applicator coils, with the seat applicator being provided with a seat applicator microprocessor which controls the synchronization of the . connection of coils to the po wer current pulse generator and controls the safety circuit, placed in the control unit, for disconnecting the seat applicator from a power supply in case of failure, of the seat applicator.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention the number of coils in the seat applicator exceeds 10.0 in order to obtain uniform area magnetic induction in the tissue under treatment; _,

In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention the control unit contains a microprocessor which is provided with a program for controlling the final value of rectangular pulses or their repetition rate, for creating auxiliary light or sound signals and for li iting the device function in keeping with the doctor's recommendation. The switcH; of the control unit of the seat applicator can be advantageously controlled^' ihe body landing on the seat rest.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention the seat applicator and the control unit form an integral part of the seat rest. ; '

In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention the seat is provided with a foot rest for the purpose of relieving the legs; ^!

In another preferred embodiment of the invention the seat is a driver's seat, with the control unit being supplied from the d. c. distribution network of the motor vehicle via a switch. In this embodiment it is of advantage if the seat applicator is an integral -parti o¾ the driver's seat rest; and is supplied from the d. c. distribution network of the Motor vehicle or if the seat applicator and the control unit are attached to the seat rest by a variable retaining construction.

In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention the control unit is programmed to successiv6l^ conduct current pulseis to the seat applicator coils in the direction from the seat back to the front edge of the seat rest.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention the seat applicator is attached, using a variable' retaining construction/ to the surface of the sitting area of the driver's seat rest arid the control unit is placed ¹ in its vicinity. It is also of advantage if the seat applicator is provided with a strapping part which enables wrapping, as tightly as possible, the body parts under treatment.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention

One of the clihicall ^tested no-contact methods of the treatment of cellulitis is the utilizatio :pfVthe joint action of area pulsed low-frequency magnetic field and heat on the subcutis of the problematic body parts. Additional heat enhances the effect of pulsed magnetic field on ¹ cell metabolism and thus accelerates the process of- reducing subcutaneous fat. In this method, the pulsed magnetic field affects the body in only the subcutis and does not penetrate deeper into the organism. ^{; ¾} ; !

The magnetic ; field is formed by rectangular pulses of units of milliseconds in width, · with ; the pulse rise time of the order of units of microseconds and a frequency of 1 to 100 Hz. The pulse rise time usually has a width of up to 1 microsecond.' The healing effect , depends, in particular, on the speed of changes of the mag¾etic field value and therefore the leading and the rise time of pulses are as short Jas -ppssible. The pulse Width in its turn can be used to control the power loss of the coil and in this way the amount of heat is controlled that the applicator transfers to the tissue under; treatment. Simultaneously, the metabolic events are accelerated in the cells of the tissue to which the applicator with its coils is applied, With the ^; waste products from this metabolic process being drained by the lymph system 'Out of the human organism. This route is open if the outflow is made possible due to the gravity of waste 'liquid or if the waste liquid is drained to the lymph nodes due to muscle activity. If neither of these assumptions is true, the legs get swollen.; To support the drainage of waste products via lymph vessels to lymph nodes in ¾he groin it is of advantage for the pulsed magnetic field to scan the body surface fr mthe buttocks to the area of thighs and not vice versa. applicator 3 with a number of coils 5 made of a conducting material, placed in an area configuration on a nori-conducting elastic non-magnetic pad, with coils 5 being connected, either individually or in groups, by a circuit 6 of output power switches to a power generator 7.of current pulses of the control unit 4.

In the exemplary embodiment, the control unit 4 is formed by a system of mutually controlled electronic circuits, the central circuit of which is the power generator 7, whose activity- is controlled by a seat, applicator microprocessor 8 placed in the seat applicator 3 and controlling the synchronization of the coils 5 being connected to the power generator 7 of current pulses via a safety circuit 9 in such a way that in case of any failure the activity of the seat applicator 3 is

the invention differs from the previous embodiment only in that the supply is not from mains supply source 14 but from the low- voltage connector 13 of a motor vehicle distribution system, the control unit 4 controls via the microprocessor 10 of the control unit 4 the final value of pulses or their repetition rate, generates auxiliary light or sound signals inclusive of the control of the switching regulator 11, and automatically records and adjusts the time of the device operation such that the total time does not exceed a pre-determined daily amount.

Industrial applicability

The seat with anti-cellulitis effect according to the invention, exploiting area pulsed low-frequency Magnetic field and heat, can be produced industrially and made use of in both therapeutic and cosmetic practice.