Chattanooga Fluidotherapy Unit

Features

• Dry heat increases circulation and assists in pain relief
• Massaging Action provides warmth, increased local circulation and pain diminishing effects to help increase joint range of motion
• Limb Buoyancy allows patients to freely perform a variety of resistive exercises with increased mobility and decreased pain. The fluidized Cellex particles act like a low viscosity fluid, allowing limbs to be suspended much like in a liquid state.
• Promote tissue healing
• Heat induced vasodilation
• Increases localized blood flow
• Increases cellular metabolism and regeneration of healthy tissue via improved oxygen consumption
• Improves joint range of motion due to increased collagen elasticity Sensory stimulation
• Gentle sensory stimulation of the skin through rubbing of the Cellex¨ particles against the skin surface
• Stimulates skin mechanoreceptors
• Induces a cutaneous micro massage, helping to decrease pain and increase range of motion
• Air flow and high/low features create an antigravity effect that maintains the limb in a buoyant, elevated position to aid in the movement of fluid and help prevent the build up of edema
• The effectiveness of Fluidotherapy was compared with Hydrotherapy and Paraffin wax treatments by in vivo temperature measurements of the joint capsule and muscles of the hands and feet. Fluidotherapy applied at 118°F resulted in a maximum joint capsule temperature rise of 16.2°F and a 9.5°F rise in muscle temperature. This was compared to a 13.5°F and 8.1°F rise in temperature, respectively for Paraffin wax treatments. Lastly, Hydrotherapy bath applied at 102°F resulted in only a 10.8°F rise in joint capsule temperature and 7.7°F rise in muscle temperature. [Comparison of In Vivo Temperature Produced by Hydrotherapy, Paraffin Wax and Fluidotherapy. Borrell RM, Parker R, Henley EJ, Masley D, Repinecz]
• Measurements of time integrated heat absorption by a hand immersed in a Fluidotherapy unit at 120°F, a Whirlpool at 105.2°F and a Paraffin wax bath at 126°F show the average heat absorption to be 17.2, 5.6 and 4.8 BTU respectively during a 15 minute treatment. [Fluidotherapy: Evaluation of a New Heat Modality? Borrell RM, Henley EJ, Ho P, Hubbell MK]