Patent Application
20090311305
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to therapeutic treatment of abnormal conditions in the vagina caused by microbial organisms and, more particularly, to such treatment utilizing a vaginal therapeutic device having an exterior surface made of copper metal.
2. Brief Discussion of the Related Art
In the area of female personal hygiene and gynecological health, many efforts have been made to reduce microbial organisms in the vagina which create abnormal conditions such as vaginal odor, bacterial and viral infections, yeast infections and the like. Most of the attempts have involved medication and/or douching. Particularly effective douching systems utilizing a stainless steel douche appliance and methods using metal oxides are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,190,365, No. 6,589,216, No. 7,276,056 and No. 7,270,653 to Abbott et al. Abnormal vaginal conditions are caused by various microbial organisms including bacterial, viral and fungal organisms. No device or associated method has been found to provide an anti-microbial treatment to kill such microbial organisms.
It is known that many bacteria known to be human pathogens cannot survive on surfaces of copper metal. As used herein, “copper metal” means pure copper and copper alloys such as brasses, bronzes, copper-nickels and copper-nickel-zincs as described in “Abstract from Copper Alloys for Human Infection Disease Control” by H. T. Michaels, S. A. Wilks, J. O. Noyce and C. W. Keivel. The number of live bacteria drops from several orders of magnitude to almost zero on copper metal in a few hours. Copper metals which have been tested include high (pure) coppers, brasses, bronzes, copper-nickels, and copper-nickel-zincs. The bacteria tested include Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the cause of serious hospital-acquired infections, pseudomonas aeruginosa enterbacter aerogens and Acinetobartor baumonaii, as well as E. coli 0157:H7 and listeria monocytogenes, foodborne pathogens associated with several large-scale food recalls. Copper metal as a “static” agent inhibits microbial growth by means other than killing such that it limits the growth of microorganisms and may inactivate them. Copper metal as an “antimicrobial” substance (chemical or physical) can prevent microbial growth either by some ‘-static’ action or by the outright killing of microbial organisms. Copper metal as a “-cidal” agent either damages a microbial organism at low concentration and/or reduced contact time or interacts permanently so that it ceases to function normally. Such “-cidal” agent damages a microorganism sub-lethally. Total inactivation is functionally equivalent to killing the organism (0% survival).
In accordance with the present invention, a copper metal surface is provided in the vagina for a sufficient period of time such that microbial organisms in the vagina are killed. In this manner, various bacterial conditions, fungal conditions and viral conditions are treated.
In one aspect, the present invention utilizes a vaginal therapeutic device formed of a body having an exterior surface made of copper metal, the body having a shape to fit in the vagina such that the copper metal exterior surface contacts the inner walls of the vagina to act as an anti-microbial agent.
In another aspect, the present invention treats abnormal biological conditions in the vagina by inserting a therapeutic device having an exterior surface made of anti-microbial copper metal in the vagina, retaining the therapeutic device in the vagina for a time sufficient to kill microbial organisms and thereafter removing the therapeutic device from the vagina.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A vaginal therapeutic device 10 according to the present invention is shown in
Due to the weight of copper metal, it is preferred that the body 12 is hollow; however, the body 12 can be solid if desired. Additionally, it is preferred that the copper metal be pure copper, i.e. 99.95% copper after processing; however, while pure copper has the greatest anti-microbial effect, various copper alloys as described above, can be utilized.
In use, the vaginal therapeutic device 10 inserted in the vagina V (vaginal canal) through the vaginal opening VO as shown in
When the body 12 is hollow, the walls of the body can be solely copper metal. A lighter weight, less expensive modification of a vaginal therapeutic device 10? is shown in
Another modification of a vaginal therapeutic device 40 according to the present invention is shown in a contracted state in
To fabricate the vaginal therapeutic devices, it is noted that copper metal can be readily electro-formed, plated, hot rolled, extruded, cast or forged and can be cold rolled to a desired thickness to form sheets or thin layers or wire-like structures. The vaginal therapeutic device shown in
When a vaginal therapeutic device according to the present invention is inserted or positioned in the vagina, the antimicrobial effect of the copper metal will kill or inactivate and inhibit growth of microbial organisms in the vagina which cause abnormal conditions, including viruses, bacterium, fungi and the like. Thusly, undesirable conditions such as odor, vaginitis, yeast infections, bacterial infections, viral infections, sexually transmitted diseases and the like are treated, cured or prevented, it being noted that HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), which causes AIDS, can be treated in accordance with the subject invention in that a vaginal eco-system imbalance caused by microbial organisms causes the vagina to be receptive to HIV.
Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all subject matter discussed above or shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative only and now be taken in a limiting sense.
