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Lay Explanation of the Action of the Boot
A leg with poor arterial blood flow may be likened to a dirty sponge that is half wet. Squeezing such a sponge disseminates the water throughout the sponge. Soaking and wringing the water repeatedly from the sponge may help clean it. In like fashion, the heart monitor of the Circulator Boot is timed to allow each arterial pulse wave to enter the leg as best it can (to partially wet the leg "sponge"). Boot compressions provide a driving force to disseminate blood around the leg and at the same time press venous blood and excess tissue water from the leg. Patients with a pulse rate of 80 beats per minute might receive 4800 such compressions an hour. Patients with severe arterial leg disease might receive 100 such treatments or close to a half million compressions! Breakdown of clot, rechannelization of blocked vessels and the formation of new small vessels may help restore blood flow.
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Comparison of Treatment Modalities in Augmenting Arterial Blood Flow to the Leg