Patent EA-001618-B1 (EA)
Title: Method, apparatus and system for low-frequency therapy
IPC: A61N1/32
Filed: 1997-05-30
Abstract: 1. A method for low-frequency therapy treating diseases by passing a low-frequency electric current from the skin through the human body wherein therapy comprises choosing the frequencies of low-frequency current from at least a part of 1-10000Hz, and delivering them step by step in an ascending order at specified time intervals. 2. A method for low-frequency therapy according to claim 1 wherein therapy comprises choosing in advance plural frequencies, and delivering a low-frequency current with those chosen frequencies. 3. A method for low-frequency therapy according to claim 2 wherein the plural frequencies comprise a part chosen from 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 15, 20, 26, 60, 72, 95, 100, 120, 125, 160, 440, 448, 465, 500, 600, 625, 660, 666, 690, 700, 725, 727, 728, 730, 740, 770, 776, 787, 790, 799, 800, 802, 803, 804, 832, 840, 875, 878, 880, 885, 890, 1500, 1550, 1560, 1570, 1600, 1800, 1840, 1850, 1900, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2052, 2100, 2120, 2127, 2128, 2130, 2489, 2490, 3000, 5000 and 10000Hz. 4. A method for low-frequency therapy according to claim 3 wherein a basic therapy comprising delivering a current with frequencies of 20, 60, 70, 72, 75, 125, 666, 727, 740, 787, 790 and 10000Hz is initially given in this order, and another therapy comprising delivering a current with frequencies chosen appropriately according to the kind of disease of interest is then given. 5. A method for low-frequency therapy according to claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein therapy comprises passing repetitively plural times through the human body a part of the chosen frequencies of current. 6. A method for low frequency therapy according to any one of claims 2 to 5 wherein therapy comprises passing repetitively through the human body a low-frequency current with the highest frequency of all the chosen frequencies. 7. A method for low-frequency therapy according to any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the lowest of all the chosen frequencies is 20Hz. 8. A method for low-frequency therapy according to any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the lowest of all the chosen frequency is 666Hz. 9. A method for low-frequency therapy according to any one of claims 2 to 8 wherein the highest of all the chosen frequencies is 10000Hz. 10. A method for low-frequency therapy according to any one of claims 2 to 8 wherein the highest of all the chosen frequencies is 5000Hz. 11. A low-frequency therapeutic apparatus (10) comprising a therapeutic electrode (14) to be applied onto a site to be treated, an inactive electrode (16) to be applied on the human body (P) to couple with the therapeutic electrode (14) so that an electric current can be passed through the human body, and an oscillating unit (12) to generate a weak current with a low frequency to be applied across those electrodes (14 and 16), wherein the oscillating unit (12) contains a frequency control device (18) which chooses frequencies to be generated from among the plural frequencies chosen in advance from at least a part of 1 to 10000Hz, and switches those frequencies from the lowest one after another in an ascending order at specified time intervals. 12. A low-frequency therapeutic apparatus (10) according to claim 11 wherein the frequency control device (18) comprises a memory section (22) which stores the data of the plural frequencies chosen in advance according to the kinds of diseases, and a selection signal delivering section (24) which, in response to an instruction signal fed according to the kind of disease of interest, reads the corresponding data of the plural frequencies from the memory section (22), and delivers selection signals thereby to change the frequencies of a wave generated by the oscillating unit (12) in an orderly fashion. 13. A low-frequency therapeutic apparatus (10) according to claim 11 or 12 wherein the plural frequencies comprise a part out of 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 15, 20, 26, 60, 72, 95, 100, 120, 125, 160, 440, 448, 465, 500, 600, 625, 660, 666, 690, 700, 725, 727, 728, 730, 740, 770, 776, 787, 790, 799, 800, 802, 803, 804, 832, 840, 875, 878, 880, 885, 890, 1500, 1550, 1560, 1570, 1600, 1800, 1840, 1850, 1900, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2052, 2100, 2120, 2127, 2128, 2130, 2489, 2490, 3000, 5000 and 10000Hz. 14. A low-frequency therapeutic system (32) comprising a therapeutic electrode (14) to be applied onto a site to be treated, an inactive electrode (16) to be applied on the human body (P) to couple with the therapeutic electrode (14) so that an electric current can be passed through the human body, an oscillating unit (38) to generate a weak current with a low frequency ranging from 1 to 10000Hz to be applied across those electrodes (14 and 16), a frequency selection unit (38B) to change the frequency of a wave generated by the oscillating unit (38) into the frequency designated by an incoming frequency selection signal, and a frequency selection control unit (34) which chooses the data of plural frequencies from among plural frequencies chosen in advance from a part of 1-10000Hz, arranges them in an ascending order at specified time intervals, and delivers them as frequency selection signals to the frequency selection unit (38B). 15. A low-frequency therapeutic system (32) according to claim 15 wherein the frequency selection control unit (34) comprises a memory section (34A) which stores the data of plural frequencies chosen appropriately according to the kinds of diseases, and a signal delivering section (34B) which, in response to an instruction signal fed according to the kind of disease of interest, reads the corresponding data of the plural frequencies from the memory section (34A), and delivers frequency selection signals representing those plural frequencies from the lowest in an ascending order to the frequency selection unit (38B). 16. A low-frequency therapeutic system (32) according to claim 15 or 16 wherein the frequency selection control unit (34) delivers the selection signal to the frequency selection device (38B) through a wired or wireless telecommunication line (36). 17. A low-frequency therapeutic system (32) according to claim 15, 16 or 17 wherein the plural frequencies comprise a part out of 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 15, 20, 26, 60, 72, 95, 100, 120, 125, 160, 440, 448, 465, 500, 600, 625, 660, 666, 690, 700, 725, 727, 728, 730, 740, 770, 776, 787, 790, 799, 800, 802, 803, 804, 832, 840, 875, 878, 880, 885, 890, 1500, 1550, 1560, 1570, 1600, 1800, 1840, 1850, 1900, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2052, 2100, 2120, 2127, 2128, 2130, 2489, 2490, 3000, 5000 and 10000Hz.