Improvements in apparatus for short-wave therapy.

  • Walker, Cyril Hubert
Date:
1940
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Improvements in apparatus for short-wave therapy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1/10
    PATENT SPECIFICATION Application Date: June 13, 1939. No. 17296/39. Complete Specification Left: June 10,1940. Complete Specification Accepted: Dec. 13, 1940. 530.528 PRO VISIONAL SPECIFICATION Improvements in Apparatus for Short-wave Therapy BihHofheek Bur. Ind. ki^emioin ■ 8 MSI 1946 We, Cyril Hubert Walker, of 19, Winchester Hoad, Frmston, Manchester, in tlie County of Lancaster, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and Metro- 5 politan-Vickers Electrical Company Limited, of Number One, Ivingsway, London, W.C.2, a British Company, do hereby declare the nature of this inven¬ tion to be as follows : — lb This invention relates to apparatus for short-wave therapy, that is to say appa¬ ratus wherein treatment of patients is effected by ultra high frequency capacity currents carried through leads from an 15 oscillation generator, usually of the ther¬ mionic* valve type, to applicator electrodes not in contact with the skin of the patient, such treatment is distinct from so called short-wave diathermy wherein the appli¬ ed cator electrodes are placed in contact with the skin with the object of providing a conduction current through the part of the patient’s body being treated. For diathermy the wavelength has been of the 25 order of 300 metres whilst for ultra short¬ wave therapy the wavelength is of the order of 5 metres. For such short-wave therapy the applicator electrodes are held in such a position that they do not and 30 even cannot come into contact with the part of the body being treated. To this end they may be clamped in position on a suitable bracket or standard or they may be encased in insulating material such as 35 glass shoes or covers which can be gener¬ ally readily removed, or such applicator electrodes may be encased in bakelite, indiarnbbei and the like, from which ordinarily they cannot be readily 40 removed, although removal of the elec¬ trodes from such insulating members is in some cases possible. Sometimes the applicator electrodes are flexible and encased in indiarubber so that the elec- 45 trades can be bent to the shape of the part of the body being treated, the insulating casing providing the requisite spacing oi the electrodes from the skin: additional insulating pads can also be interposed to 50 increase the syiacing. The present invention concerns appli¬ cator electrodes for the treatment of the teeth and gums. Heretofore for such [Price 1/-] treatment the electrodes, or at least one of them, have or lias always been placed 55 on the face outside the mouth. Some¬ times the applicator electrodes have been of the flexible type, encased in india- rubber, or the electrodes have been located in glass shoes, and in either case they are 60 generally held in position by means of a strap or system of straps. Such, method of applying the treatment amounts to the general flooding of the teeth and jaws and other adjacent parts with the ultra high 65 frequency capacity currents with loss of intensity at the affected part. According to the present invention in contradistinction to such general flooding, localised treatment is given by the use of 70 one or each of the applicator electrodes in the form of a relatively small metal plate oi* foil which is preferably rectangular and may be slightly curved, which' elec¬ trode is encased in insulation such as a 75 glass shoe, which may be of glass of high dielectric constant, which shoe is of only slightly larger outside dimensions than that of said electrode plate. The latter has connected to it a conducting lead, 80 which is preferably flexible, passing through a glass or other insulating tube which is fused or otherwise secured to- the shoe and which at the other end carries a terminal member to which can be 85 attached one of the high frequency leads from the generating apparatus. Further¬ more such insulating tube is suitably bent so that the encased electrode can be intro¬ duced into the mouth of the patient and 90 applied in contact with the gum either on the inside or the outside thereof, that is to say between the tongue and the gum or between the gum and the cheek. The invention further comprises a pair 95 of such encased electrodes and a clamp for the tubes thereof permitting relative adjustment of the electrodes so that they may be appropriately applied to any part of the mouth. Normally there will be a 100 set of several such electrodes with the insu¬ lating tubes bent in different ways and applied to different parts of the electrode casing, so that the treatment may be applied to anv desired part of the mouth. 105 It will be appreciated that the treatment