Patent ID: 7909783

Claim:
A method of compressing a foot to reduce the occurrence of venous thromboembolism, the method comprising, moving, via an electric motor, a semi-rigid pressure pad a first time to bring the semi-rigid pressure pad into contact with a foot to compress a portion of the foot, wherein the semi-rigid pressure pad and the electric motor are completely contained within a shoe; moving, via the electric motor, the semi-rigid pressure pad a second time to bring the semi-rigid pressure pad out of contact with the foot to allow the portion of the foot to at least partially refill with blood; and moving, via the electric motor, the semi-rigid pressure pad a third time to bring the semi-rigid pressure pad into contact with the foot to force at least a portion of the blood out of the portion of the foot; wherein the electric motor moves the semi-rigid pressure pad responsive to inactivity of the foot for a predetermined time period.