Patent ID: 8465444

Claim:
A method of treatment of a laminitis condition, or other condition derived from poor circulation in the leg of an animal having a hoofed area, such as a horse, comprising the steps of: (a) provisioning a wrap member, having a predetermined length said wrap member having a plurality of inflatable chambers, including a most distal one and a most proximal one, positioned at respective intervals along the length of the wrap member, said most distal one of said plurality of inflatable chambers adapted to engage a compressible portion of the leg of the animal exposed within the hoofed area including the frog segment or bulbar area, said wrap member further including means for releasably securing the wrap member to the leg of the animal; (b) provisioning a controllable pressure source to each of said inflatable chambers; (c) manipulating said wrap member including said means for releasably securing the wrap member, to position and secure said wrap member about the leg of the animal, said most distal one of said chambers engaging the compressible portion of the leg of the animal exposed within the hoofed area, the most proximal one of said chambers engaging a higher portion of the leg of the animal in an area predetermined by the length of the wrap member; (d) activating the controllable pressure source, said controllable pressure source adapted to provide a plurality of repetitive cycles, each one of said repetitive cycles comprising a first predetermined number of successive time intervals, said controllable pressure source further adapted to provide during each time interval of said one of said repetitive cycles, either a predetermined pressure of a higher magnitude, P H , or of a lower magnitude, P L , to a respective one of said plurality of inflatable chambers in accordance with a predetermined wave pattern, wherein the predetermined wave pattern requires that during each time interval of said one of said repetitive cycles, at least two immediately adjacent inflatable chambers are at P H pressure and at least one of said inflatable chambers is at P L pressure, said at least two immediately adjacent inflatable chambers at P H pressure over the time of each said repetitive cycle, progressing from said most distal one and the next most distal one to the most proximal one and the next most proximal one.