Therapeutic Method and Therapeutic Means Using a Sheetlike Battery

The present invention relates to a therapeutic method and therapeutic means for curing an affected part by applying a voltage to the human body.

Heretofore, it has been known that a voltage applied to a certain part of the human body stimulates the muscle in that part, activating the flow of the body fluids. On basis of this principle, there have been proposed several therapeutic apparatuses for applying a high voltage to the human body.

An example of such an apparatus is constructed such that a pair of positive and negative electrodes are arranged to interpose an affected part therebetween and applied with a comparatively high voltage. This type of apparatus, however, is dangerous unless it is used in a correct manner. Moreover, the apparatus itself is relatively large in size, so that the therapy cannot be performed except during a special treatment time at rest, because the electrodes have to be attached to the affected part.

This invention has been made in order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a therapeutic method and therapeutic means for curing an affected part by using a sheetlike battery that generates a voltage low enough not to endanger the human body.

The present inventor has developed a sheetlike battery as disclosed in the specification of PCT/JP84/00100 (corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 675,060, filed Dec. 7, 1984) and, during the investigation of various applications of this sheetlike battery, has accomplished the present invention.

That is, the present invention was accomplished on the basis of the finding of the present inventor that the sheetlike battery produces a remarkable therapeutic effect when the negative electrode side of the battery is placed in contact with an effected part of a body and attached thereto by an adhesive tape or the like.

According to the therapeutic method of the present invention, the negative electrode of the sheetlike bettery is placed in contact with an affected part, and the battery is attached to the skin with a covering member such as film that covers the positive electrode of the battery, thereby causing an electric current to flow from the positive electrode side to negative electrode side through the affected skin part.

The reasons why the above-mentioned therapeutic method achieves the therapeutic effects can be considered from various experiments of the present inventor, as follows:

(1) First, it is considered that when an electric energy flows through the human body, some kinds of disease germs and bacteria are killed or the activities thereof are suppressed.

That is, in the event that the negative electrode side of the sheetlike battery was attached onto an itchy erythema of athlete's foot by an adhesive tape, the itchiness was removed almost immediately. And, when the battery was removed after one day, the erythema has disappeared and did not appear again thereafter. It is assumed from this fact that the electric energy flowed through the erythema and killed the bacteria in that part.

(2) It is also considered that the body fluids and self-curing ingredients therein flow along with the movement of the electric energy and are absorbed into the body part to which the negative electrode of the battery abuts, so that skin diseases and the like at said body part are cured.

In the experiments conducted by the present inventor, it was observed that when the sheetlike battery is kept in contact with the affected part of the skin, a large amount of moisture (sweat) oozes out of the affected part. It is considered from this fact that the body fluids move along the flow of the electric energy and ooze out at the body part contacting the negative electrode of the sheetlike battery. As is well known, body fluids contain some ingredients which cure a wound and the like by themselves, so that it is considered that these ingredients are also drawn, like the above-mentioned moisture, to the body part contacting the negative electrode of the battery to promote curing. In other experiments, where the sheetlike battery was attached to a very dry part of the skin, such a change was observed that the part of the skin contacting the battery became moist after several minutes. This means that moisture in the tissue of the human body is drawn to the skin surface. In view of the fact that the body moisture permeates through the part where the battery is attached, it can be considered that the self-curing ingredients naturally existing in the body will also be drawn to the battery contacting part together with the moisture, whereby the skin disease, wound or the like is cured rapidly.

(3) It is considered that the therapeutic effect of the battery is caused by the increase of minus (-) ions at the body part contacting the negative electrode of the battery, as the electric energy generated by the battery flows through the human body.

That is, these minus (-) ions are effective for the human body, and it is known that by increasing the amount of minus ion, the therapeutic effect such as killing of bacteria, sanitary effects such as deodorizing, and many other healthful effects can be obtained. Namely, when the materials, such as various liquid ingredients (mineral etc.) in the human body, exist in the liquid state, these materials are equiliberated in the form of plus ions and minus ions in the liquid. When an electric current, however small it may be, flows through such ionized materials, the plus ions and minus ions are attracted to the respective points where the plus and minus are applied in the current and highly concentrated at these points. Accordingly, it can be considered that when the above described sheetlike battery is attached in such a manner that the negative electrode side comes into contact with the human body, due to the small electric current caused by such attachment of the battery, minus ions in the body fluids are drawn through the tissues of the body to the part where the negative electrode of the battery contacts and are concentrated thereat, whereby the skin disease or the like at the body part is cured.

The above and other objects of the present invention as well as the features thereof will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partly cutaway perspective view of the sheetlike battery used in this invention,

FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 are sectional views showing therapeutic means according to first to third embodiments of the present invention made from the sheetlike battery in FIG. 1 and attached to the skin of a human body,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a battery to be used in further embodiments of the present invention, the battery being made by cutting the sheetlike battery in FIG. 1 into a small size and folding it, and

FIG. 6 to 8 are sectional views showing therapeutic means according to fourth to sixth embodiments of the present invention made from the sheetlike battery in FIG. 1 and attached to the skin of the human body.

At first, a preferably sheetlike battery to be used in the present invention shall be described with reference to FIG. 1. As disclosed in PCT/JP84/00100 according to the previous application of the present inventor, this battery is composed of a positive electrode 1 in the form of a sheet densely having carbon fibers or fine carbon particles, a negative electrode 2 of metal foil such as aluminum and zinc, and an electrolyte 3 interposed between the two electrodes and made of office paste containing starch as the main ingredient or the like paste. The sheet material of the positive electrode is preferably made of fibrous paper, and the negative electrode 2 is preferably made of aluminum foil. The battery thus constructed can be made as thin as 1 mm or less, has flexibility similar to cardboard or medium-thickness paper, can be cut into any desired size and shape by scissors, and has a voltage of about 0.8 to 1.2 V regardless of being a large or small size piece.

In a therapeutic means according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the battery formed as set forth above is cut into small battery pieces 4, and the positive side 1 of the small battery piece 4 is adhered to the sticky face of an adhesive film 5. The adhesive film 5 is larger than the battery piece 4, so that the peripheral portion of the adhesive film 5 can be adhered to any desired part of the human body. Preferably, the adhesive film 5 should be a water-impermeable plastic film.

To use the above-mentioned therapeutic means, the negative electrode side 2 of the small battery piece 4 is placed in contact with an affected part of the skin 6 of the human body, and the adhesive film 5 adhered to the positive electrode side 1 of the battery piece is attached to the skin surrounding the affected part. In such an arrangement, an electric circuit is formed for flowing a small amount of electric current, as shown by arrows in FIG. 2, from the positive electrode 1 of the battery to the negative electrode 2 thereof through the moisture on the inner surface of the adhesive film 5 and the tissues under the skin, thereby producing the therapeutic effects on the affected part as mentioned above (1), (2) and (3).

FIG. 3 shows a therapeutic means according to the second embodiment of the present invention, wherein the positive electrode side 1 of the small battery piece 4 is closely covered with a water-impermeable plastic film 7 larger than the battery piece 4, and an annular adhesive film 5a is adhered at the inner periphery thereof to the outer periphery of the plastic film 7, the outer periphery of the adhesive film 5a being used to attach this therapeutic means to the skin of the human body. When this therapeutic means is in use, an electric circuit is formed for flowing a small amount of electric current, as shown by arrows, from the positive electrode 1 of the small battery piece 4 to negative electrode 2 thereof through the moisture on the inner surface of the water-impermeable film 7 and the tissues under the skin, thereby producing the same therapeutic effects as in the first embodiment. In a modification of the second embodiment, the adhesive film 5a can be made large enough to entirely cover the water-impermeable film 7, so that the center portion of the adhesive film 52 is adhered to the entire upper surface of the water-impermeable film, and the peripheral portion of the adhesive film 52 is attached to the skin of the human body.

FIG. 4 shows therapeutic means according to a third embodiment of the present invention, wherein an absorbent sheet 8 is put on the negative electrode side of the small battery piece 4, so that the battery piece 4 is attached to the skin 6 by interposing the absorbent sheet piece 8 therebetween. The other construction of the third embodiment is the same as the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3. The absorbent sheet 8 of the therapeutic means in the third embodiment is employed to absorb the moisture since a relatively large amount of moisture permeates through the skin face, when the small battery piece 4 of the present invention is used as in the cases of the first and second embodiments. The absorbent sheet 8 may contain an antiseptic solution for skin wounds.

In a therapeutic means according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, the battery constructed as shown in Fig. 1 is cut into desired small pieces 4. Then, one side portion of the small battery piece 4 is folded (as shown in FIG. 5) in such a way that the positive electrode 1 and the negative electrode 2 are exposed side by side on the negative electrode side of the battery piece 4. An adhesive tape 5b is attached to the other positive side of the battery piece 4.

When the therapeutic means of the fourth embodiment is used, the above-mentioned side of the small battery piece, where the positive and negative electrodes are exposed side by side, is placed in contact with an affected part of the human body, and the battery piece is adhered to the skin around the affected part of the adhesive tape 5b attached to the other side of the battery piece. In this case, preferably, the battery piece 4 is attached such that the negative electrode thereof be placed upon the affected part. In such an arrangement, an electric circuit is formed as shown by arrows in FIG. 6 to flow a small amount of electric current from the positive electrode 1 of the small battery piece 4 to the negative electrode 2 through the affected part of the skin 6, thereby producing the therapeutic effects as mentioned above in (1), (2) and (3).

FIG. 7 shows a therapeutic means according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, wherein the small battery piece 4 cut into a rectangular shape is folded at both edge portions, with the negative electrode inside, so that one side surface of the thus folded small battery piece 4 has positive electrodes 1 at both side edges and the negative electrode 2 at the center part. When in use, the negative electrode 2 of the above one side surface is placed in contact with the affected part and the small battery piece 4 is attached to the skin by the adhesive tape 5b adhered to the other side face of the battery. In the case of this embodiment, an electric circuit is formed, as shown by arrows, from the positive electrodes at both sides of the affected part to the negative electrode through the affected part, so that a small amount of electric current flows in the affected part from both sides thereof with the increased current density, thereby enhancing the therapeutic effects.

FIG. 8 shows a therapeutic means according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, wherein an absorbent sheet 8, like gauze, is put on the central negative electrode face of the small battery piece 4 which is folded and formed as in the case of FIG. 4. The negative electrode side of the small battery piece 4 is placed on the affected part by interposing the absorbent sheet 8 therebetween. The other construction of this embodiment is the same as that of the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 7. The absorbent sheet 8 of the therapeutic means according to the sixth embodiment is employed to absorb the moisture as in the case of the third embodiment, since a relatively large amount of moisture permeates through the skin part where the small battery piece 4 is attached.

In the embodiments set forth above, although it is disclosed that the small battery pieces be attached to the affected part of the skin 6 by adhesive film or adhesive tape 5, 5a, 5b, the small battery piece can be closely attached on the skin by means of a bandage in such an event that a wide piece of the battery 4 is used. In such case, the double layer construction of the present battery composed of the fibrous paper and the aluminum foil makes it possible to follow the curvature of the skin and to be closely attached thereto because of the extremely high flexibility.

As described above, according to the therapeutic method of the present invention, an electric circuit is formed to flow a small amount of electric current into an affected part of the human body from the positive electrode to the negative electrode through the affected part by placing the negative electrode of the flexible sheetlike battery in contact with the affected part, whereby unexpected therapeutic effects can be attained, such as relieving of muscular pain and stiff shoulders and curing athlete's foot, skin diseases and the like.

Further, the therapeutic means according to the present invention comprises a very thin sheetlike battery in order that the negative electrode thereof be placed in contact with an affected part, whereby the present therapeutic device can be attached at any time to the affected part by a covering member such as adhesive film, adhesive tape and bandage. Therefore, the present therapeutic means makes it possible to have continuous therapeutic effects with very easy application to the human body. Also, there is no feeling of physical discomfort, when the present therapeutic means is in use, because of the very thin structure thereof. Especially, in case the sheetlike battery is composed of a sheetlike positive electrode having dense carbon fibers or fine carbon particles therein, a negative electrode of metal foil such as aluminum foil or zinc foil, and an electrolyte interposed between the positive and negative electrodes, the sheetlike battery can be cut into a desired size with scissors and, thereafter, it can be folded to form the therapeutic means. In addition, the therapeutic means formed from such sheetlike battery has other remarkable advantages because of flexibility and extremely low cost.