Negative Pressure Therapy With Anti-Spasmodics for Spasticity Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for spasticity associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, are inadequate in reducing the frequency, intensity, and severity of spasticity, often causing significant side effects and requiring invasive interventions or high medication dosages.
Innovation Solution
Applying negative pressure therapy in conjunction with pharmacological compositions, such as anti-spasmodic and immunosuppressive drugs, to reduce spasticity by enhancing blood flow, oxygenation, and sensory feedback, thereby reducing the need for high medication doses and invasive treatments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high medication dosages are used to treat spasticity, then spasticity frequency and severity are reduced, but side effects increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines negative pressure therapy with pharmacological treatment to create a synergistic effect. The negative pressure therapy enhances blood flow and oxygenation to the affected muscles, which amplifies the effectiveness of anti-spasmodic medications, allowing for reduced dosage while maintaining or improving spasticity control and reducing side effects.
Solution Approach 2:
Negative pressure therapy acts as an intermediary mechanism that improves the delivery and effectiveness of pharmacological treatments. By enhancing circulation and tissue oxygenation, it facilitates better drug distribution and metabolic processes, thereby reducing the required medication dosage and associated side effects.
2Reliability
If invasive interventions are used to treat spasticity, then treatment effectiveness is improved, but patient compliance and quality of life deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces invasive mechanical or surgical interventions with non-invasive negative pressure therapy. This therapy uses controlled vacuum pressure to stimulate blood flow and muscle relaxation, achieving spasticity reduction without the risks, pain, and recovery time associated with invasive procedures, thereby maintaining effectiveness while improving patient compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The treatment approach shifts from invasive procedures with fixed parameters to adjustable negative pressure parameters. The therapy can be customized in terms of pressure magnitude, duration, and frequency, allowing optimization for each patient's specific condition while maintaining non-invasiveness and improving compliance through flexible, patient-friendly protocols.
3Stability of the object's composition
If physical therapy is used to reduce spasticity, then muscle flexibility is improved, but treatment time and energy requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Negative pressure therapy is applied before or between physical therapy sessions to pre-condition the muscles by enhancing blood flow and reducing baseline spasticity. This preliminary action makes subsequent physical therapy more effective and requires less time to achieve the same flexibility improvements, thereby reducing total treatment duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The negative pressure therapy can be applied repeatedly over time with short intervals, maintaining continuous therapeutic effect on muscle tone and blood flow. This continuous action complements periodic physical therapy sessions, ensuring consistent progress in flexibility while reducing the cumulative time required compared to intensive physical therapy alone.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The combination of negative pressure therapy with pharmacological compositions significantly reduces spasticity frequency and severity, improves neurological function, and minimizes side effects, enhancing patient compliance and overall quality of life.
Implementation Method 1
Applying negative pressure therapy in conjunction with pharmacological compositions, such as anti-spasmodic and immunosuppressive drugs, to reduce spasticity by enhancing blood flow, oxygenation, and sensory feedback
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A composition, method and related systems for treating and/or preventing spasticity in a patient using negative pressure therapy. The negative pressure therapy may include intermittent application of negative pressure to a limb or portion of a body, such as alternating between periods of negative pressure and ambient pressure. The negative pressure therapy may be applied on a regular basis for a predetermined period, such that an effective amount of negative pressure for treating spasticity and other symptoms of neurogenerative diseases is administered. The negative pressure therapy may be applied to cause intermittent activation of the venous arterial reflex in the body for a sustained period, such that symptoms of neurogenerative diseases are alleviated or prevented.