German Patent Office

Patent

No. 76054

issued on July 11, 1894

Class 30: Health Care

A. BERTLING, Dr. Med., in AACHEN

Device for Active and Passive Straightening of the Vertebral Column

Patented in the German Reich starting from November 28, 1893.

The device, shown in the attached drawings, is used to straighten the curved vertebral column and is intended especially for use in the home.

This device consists of a tread board a, on which two strong perpendicular iron supports bb are attached at a sufficient distance, in order to accommodate the head of the patient between said supports. These columns exhibit from the top to the bottom and from the outside to the inside internally adjustable pelvic forks cc, which are secured by a clamping screw d. The the top end and the outer edge of the perpendicular rods bb have a number of obliquely extending recesses ee, in order to hold the levers ff, described below. Further below there are also a number of shallower recesses gg, which serve as the support points for the levers, when the patient is supposed to use the device while sitting. The levers have two arms and are supported by a pin in the aforementioned recesses. The upper arm splits like a fork into two arms, the upper end of which is forged in the shape of a hook. The width of said two upper arms exceeds somewhat the straight chest diameter of the patient. The hooks are intended for accommodating the ends of the straightening straps h. The bottom arm terminates in a knob and carries on a pusher a chain i, which is hooked at any point in a pin k, located on the vertical rod. The straps h are shaped according to the contour lines of the chest or the shoulder and have a belt l, which secures them, as desired, on the shoulder, the side chest or the lumbar region.

The application is explained below in conjunction with a typical right dorsal and left lumbar scoliosis, which is shown in Figure 1. The pelvic forks c are placed tightly over the greater trochanter - the pelvis. It is often a good idea to raise the left foot, because that will help straighten the lumbar spine; and the right inclination of the pelvis brings about a better starting position for the following therapeutic exercise. A skewed position of the pelvis usually has to be compensated by placing a tread board underneath. At this stage the right lever f is hooked into the perpendicular rod b at such a height that the upper end of said lever is located almost on a level with the top of the spine of the lumbar flexure. Then a strap h is placed over the left lumbar region, hooked with its ends into the lever hooks; the lever f is applied and by means of the chain i secured on the perpendicular rod b. Then the patient places the right hand on his head, supports with the left hand the lumbar convexity and bends the upper torso vigorously to the left, as a result of which the strap, which is put under sufficient tension, produces the rotational axis for the flexure of the spine. After this movement has been performed 20 to 30 times, the strap and the lever are removed; the strap is laid over the convexity of the spinal curvature and is hooked into the left sided lever f. At this stage the patient bends the upper torso to the right while the right hand is as high as possible on the costal arch; and the left hand is on the head. At the same time the head has to be swung vigorously to the right. Initially the patient will have to be supported by applying counter-pressure on the convexity and by forcing the left shoulder over to the side so that the patient will learn to perform the flexure at the correct height

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