Claims
- 1. A method of treating viral infections comprising applying electrical stimulation to the skin or mucosa of a patient, wherein said electrical stimulation is applied as a series of electrical pulses, wherein different pulses in said series have different maximum amplitudes.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said pulses progressively increase or decrease in maximum voltage or current amplitude
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said pulses progressively increase in maximum voltage or current amplitude.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein some of said series of pulses comprise AC waveforms, and wherein some of said series of pulses comprise DC waveforms.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least a portion of said series of pulses alternates between AC and DC pulses.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said pulses vary in maximum amplitude from approximately 3 volts to approximately 20 volts.
- 7. A method of treating viral infections comprising applying electrical stimulation to the skin or mucous membranes of a patient, wherein said electrical stimulation is applied as a series of electrical pulses, wherein different pulses in said series have different frequencies.
- 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said pulses have different maximum amplitudes.
- 9. A method of treating viral infections comprising the application of alternating periods of AC and DC electrical stimulation.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said alternating periods of AC and DC electrical stimulation progressively increase in amplitude.
- 11. The method of claim 9, wherein different periods of AC stimulation have different frequencies.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein said frequencies progressively increase or decrease in frequency within one of said AC periods.
- 13. An apparatus for treating viral infections with electrical stimulation comprising:
at least two electrodes; and a circuit configured to supply both AC and DC voltage to said electrodes at voltages of less than or equal to about 20 volts.
- 14. An apparatus for treating viral infections with electrical stimulation comprising first and second electrodes, wherein said first and said second electrode each comprise an elongated surface for application to a patient's skin or mucosa.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said elongated surface of said first electrode comprises a first substantially closed contour, and wherein said elongated shaped surface of said second electrode comprises a second substantially closed contour.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said second substantially closed contour surrounds said first closed contour.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said first and said second closed contours comprise concentric circular contours.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said first and said second closed contours comprise concentric rectangular contours.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said first and said second closed contours comprise concentric square contours.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said first contour comprises an approximately semi-circular contour having first and second ends, wherein said second contour comprises an approximately semi-circular contour having first and second ends, wherein said first end of said first contour is adjacent to said first end of said second contour, and wherein said second end of said first contour is adjacent to said second end of said second contour.
- 21. An apparatus for applying electrical stimulation to a patient's skin or mucous membranes for treating viral infections comprising a surface for contact with said patient's skin, said surface being approximately hemispherical in shape and comprising a pair of electrodes.
- 22. A device for treating viral infections comprising:
a housing; an electrical signal source mounted to said housing; one or more electrodes for application to a patient's skin or mucous membranes, wherein said electrodes are coupled to said electrical signal source so as to be energized by said electrical signal source; a counter mounted to said housing, wherein said counter is configured to display a count of the number of times said electrical signal source has energized said electrodes.
- 23. The device of claim 26, wherein said counter comprises a multi-segment LCD display.
- 24. A method of treating viral infections comprising:
applying current flow in a first direction through tissue infected with virus; and applying current flow in a second direction opposite said first direction through said tissue.
- 25. The method of claim 30 comprising applying a variable frequency bipolar waveform.
- 26. A method of treating viral infections comprising a treatment protocol including the application of a series of pulses of electrical stimulation to a patient's skin or mucosa, wherein said pulses of electrical stimulation have varying characteristics over the course of said treatment protocol.
- 27. The method of claim 32 wherein said viral infection comprises a herpes virus infection.
- 28. The method of claim 32 wherein said viral infection comprises a human papiloma virus infection.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation application of copending application Ser. No. 09/727,287 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATMENT OF VIRAL DISEASES filed on Nov. 29, 2000, which application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09727287 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
10624816 |
Jul 2003 |
US |