Development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prevention device.

-Proposal of Blood flow improvement method by the passive movement of ankle and pneumatic compression therapy to lower limb with pneumatic actuator. -

Abstract

Movement of ankle and pneumatic compression to lower limb are able to increase the blood flow, and effective for DVT prevention. However, people with neuromotor disabilities can not move their ankle, and pneumatic compression can cause nerve palsy of fibula. Therefore, we proposed the device which can provide both passive movement of ankle and pneumatic compression to lower limb. In this paper, a prototype driven by pneumatic actuators is developed, and a change of blood flow with the prototype is evaluated.