Cooling injuries is as old as ice, but while ice helps pain it decreases blood flow and stiffens muscles. High frequency vibration dilates blood vessels to improve circulation and massages muscles to improve flexibility of injured tissues. In addition, vibration stimulates bone reformation, a particularly valuable consideration for tendon and bony issues.
The concept of cold and vibration as "Buzzy for Pain Relief" have been extensively proven to decrease needle pain for injections and blood draws. Combining pain relief with improved healing, a small high frequency vibration unit will be attached to a cold source to provide anti-inflammatory cold in a wearable tech design - "VibraCool." While commercial vibration units are lower frequency and convex, this device will be concave, delivering the maximum surface area to contour to aching or injured body parts.
Design breakthroughs include novel mechanisms for each body part - a moveable unit for lower back pain, a cupping design for plantar fasciitis, and a bilateral unit for each side of the knee after knee replacement.
Icing injuries can require dragging a unit around, or being confined to a chair while ice is left on. VibraCool has neoprene and Velcro fastners to allow you to keep moving while improving pain and speeding recovery.
Voting
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ABOUT THE ENTRANT
- Name:Amy Baxter
- Type of entry:individual
- Profession:
- Number of times previously entering contest:2
- Amy's favorite design and analysis tools:electrical tape, a hammer, soldering iron, and busted cell phone parts
- Amy's hobbies and activities:Buzzy for pain relief! And SciFi, Space
- Amy belongs to these online communities:MedScape, AAP, ACEP, LInked In
- Amy is inspired by:Patients are at the mercy of the medical system, which is oriented to solving problems but not preventing pain. To encourage rehabilitation and preventative healthcare, it is critical that there be no barriers to home pain management. Products like VibraCool can both soothe and heal at home, empowering patients to control pain without narcotic medications. Eliminating unnecessary pain and suffering, and removing the stigma of fear, inspire me. After talking to patients who put off surgeries due to fear of pain or need for medications, I adapted my proven needle pain solution "Buzzy" to other situations needing a fast acting pain management tech solution that is wearable for convenience. I keep going for the people who tell me our products change their lives.
- Software used for this entry:Siemens NX
- Patent status:patented