Patent ID: 7347695

Claim:
A garment for simulating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, comprising: a thorax-constricting garment portion having a frontal abdominal-thoracic plate member with wearer-proximal and wearer-distal surfaces, the thorax-constricting portion further having tensioning means operatively extendible around a wearer's thoracic-abdominal circumference, or a portion thereof, and operatively articulatable with the frontal abdominal-thoracic plate member to provide for application of constrictive thoracic-abdominal tension; a diaphragm-impeding garment portion projecting away from the wearer-proximal surface of the frontal abdominal-thoracic plate member, and operative with the thorax-constricting garment portion to simultaneously constrict expansion of a wearer's thorax while impeding contraction and downward movement of a wearer's diaphragm.