AN APPARATUS FOR THE MICROMANIPULATION OF SOFT TISSUE

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the micromanipulation of soft tissue (in particular an apparatus for physical therapy) .

Diacutaneous fibrolysis is a treatment method used in orthopaedics, rheumatology, physical medicine and sports medicine for the treatment of pathological conditions of the soft tissues and para- and periarticular fibroses.

If applied correctly, it is more efficient than other physical treatment methods for post-traumatic and postinflammatory adhesions with symptoms of pain and functional limitation.

Diacutaneous fibrolysis is also an advantageous diagnostic instrument as it makes it possible to discover and locate, with deep instrumental palpation, the presence of fibrous formations in soft tissue areas.

This palpation is currently carried out with metal fibrolyzers which have a handle which may be gripped by the operator and are provided at both ends with a hook provided at its free end with an operating head.

This operating head is claw-shaped, spherical or in the form of a rounded wedge depending on treatment needs.

Other types of known fibrolyzer are made from wood and have a handle from which a spatula-shaped operating head extends with an operating edge shaped substantially as a circular arc .

Diacutaneous fibrolysis treatments, particularly diacutaneous myo-fibrolysis treatments, are generally painful as they are invasive .

These treatments in practice involve hooking the fibrous nodule, which is in itself a painful thickening, with the operating head of the fibrolyzer. The fibrolyzer is then used with jolting movements exerting pressure on the nodule in order to break it up.

Physiotherapeutic massage, however, involves the treatment of painful and non-painful areas with known techniques performed with bare hands .

This type of treatment is geared towards heating through vascularisation and the relaxation of the area treated and is therefore rarely painful for the patient.

During physiotherapeutic massage, in order to exert pressure, the therapist uses the palm or edge of the hand, the fingers, or often the thumb alone to oppose the tension in the tissues .

The drawback of this operation lies in the fact that the fingers or the hand are able to exert only a limited pressure which is not enough for effective treatment as the therapist's hand or fingers are working on relatively stiff tissue; moreover, prolonged and/or repeated treatment is very tiring for the therapist.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for physical treatment which makes it possible to exert pressures on the areas to be treated which are greater than those possible with the fingers or the hand, with the result that a treatment of the same duration and intensity is less tiring for the therapist.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which makes it possible to emulate the action of the fingers more effectively than has been the case with the fibrolyzers known up to now.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structurally simple apparatus which is easy to use and which can be produced at low cost.

These objects, and other objects to be described in detail below, are achieved by an apparatus characterized in that it comprises :

- an elongate and flat handle portion,

- at least one operating head rigid with at least one end of the handle portion and provided with at least one thin spatula-shaped operating edge,

- a connection between the at least one operating head and the handle portion, defining a spacing gap between the at least one operating edge and the handle portion.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become clear from the following detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the invention which is given with reference to the appended drawings which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which:

Figs. Ia and Ib are top views of two variants of a first embodiment of the apparatus of the invention;

Figs. 2a and 2b are lateral elevations of the two variants of the first embodiment of the apparatus of the invention shown in Figs. Ia and Ib;

Figs. 3a and 3b show two details, on an enlarged scale, of two variants of a second embodiment of the apparatus of the invention;

Figs. 4a, 4b and 4c are top views of three variants of a second embodiment of the apparatus of the invention;

Figs. 5a, 5b and 5c are lateral elevations of the three variants of the second embodiment of the apparatus of the invention;

Figs. 6 and 7 show two solutions for the use of the apparatus of the invention as shown in Figs. 4a and 5a.

It will be appreciated that anything which proves to be known during the patent grant proceedings will be understood not to be claimed and will be removed from the claims .

With reference to 'the appended drawings, an apparatus of the invention is shown overall by 10 and comprises:

- an elongate and flat handle portion 11,

- at least one operating head 12 rigid with at least one end of the handle portion 11 and provided with at least one thin spatula-shaped operating edge 13,

- a connection 14 between the at least one operating head 12 and the handle portion 11, defining a spacing gap between the operating edge 13 and the handle portion 11.

The apparatus 10 of the invention is advantageously made as a single body, advantageously from a metal material, preferably stainless steel, and is substantially structurally rigid.

In a first embodiment, the handle portion 11 is preferably substantially planar and the operating head 12 extends substantially perpendicular to the handle portion 11.

The operating edge 13 advantageously tapers and has a profile shaped substantially as a rounded isosceles trapezium 13a or substantially as a circular arc 13b.

In a second embodiment, the apparatus 100 has a handle portion 111 preferably having a substantially curved shape, the connection 114 thereto connecting at least one operating

head 112 to form a curve with opposite convexity with respect to that of the handle portion 111.

Moreover, it advantageously comprises two operating heads 112a, 112b at the opposite ends of the handle portion 11.

The operating edge 113 is appropriately defined laterally to the first operating head 112a of the two operating heads 112a and 112b, with respect to the longitudinal development of the handle portion 111. It is also defined on a portion of the first operating head 112a curved in the same manner but transverse to the handle portion 111.

The operating edge 113 advantageously has a profile shaped substantially as a circular arc 113a or a rounded isosceles trapezium 111b or a rounded cusp 113c.

The apparatus 10 or 100 of the invention is used as follows.

The therapist grips it by the handle portion 11 or 111 and massages the area to be treated with the operating edge 13 or 113 using the physiotherapeutic massage techniques appropriate to the use of apparatus.

The apparatus of the invention, shown by way of non-limiting example in the appended drawings, is adapted to be used with the right hand, although the inventive concept includes an apparatus of the invention adapted for use with the left hand.

It has been observed in practice that the invention achieves the stated objects by providing apparatus for physical treatment which make it possible to exert greater pressures on the areas to be treated than are possible with the bare fingers and which make treatment of the same length and intensity less tiring for the therapist.

The apparatus of the invention also makes it possible to emulate the action of the fingers more effectively than has been possible with the use of the fibrolyzers known up to now.

Many modifications and adjustments may be made to the invention, as conceived, all of which fall within the scope of the invention; all the details may, moreover be replaced by other technically equivalent members .

In practice, any materials may be used, provided that they are compatible with the specific use, and any related dimensions and shapes, depending on needs and the state of the art .

Where the features and techniques set out in any claim are followed by reference numerals, these numerals are added solely to make the claims more intelligible with the result that these reference numerals have no limiting effect on the interpretation of any member identified by way of example by these reference numerals.