The name Circulator Boot™ was chosen to indicate a device that benefited heart function and all of the circulations in the body: arterial, venous and lymphatic. It is noninvasive and its use is contraindicated only by the presence of fresh deep vein thrombi in the legs and/or aortic valvular insufficiency associated with heart failure.

The Circulator Boot™ is more than a product. Its use in limb salvage has evolved into a Method of Treatment that supports the core elements of wound therapy: increased blood supply, bacterial control, moisture and debridement. Combined with the use of local antibiotic injections, for example, boot therapy may improve the blood supply and control the infection in patients with osteomyelitis and necrotizing cellulitis when standard methods of treatment are failing.

The end-diastolic timing of its leg compressions is unique and has been used in large numbers of patients to salvage legs at risk of amputation. It also has other promising uses that deserve study and serious consideration: treatment of patients with angina, congestive heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and septic shock.

In Layman's Terms:

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.

The Circulator Boot™ is an FDA approved non-invasive technology Patients have been successfully treated with the Circulator Boot™ at the Mayo Clinic, Bryn Mawr Wound & Vascular Center, Temple School of Podiatric Medicine, Jacksonville Foot & Ankle Center, St. Luke's South Shore and many physician based treatment centers. This FDA approved non-invasive technology is a major breakthrough for patients facing the grim prospect of a leg amputation from the complications of diabetes. Poor circulation and infection are the leading causes of 90,000 diabetic amputations that occur every year in the United States. Patients with critical limb ischemia, osteomyelitis and or congestive heart failure have few treatment alternatives.

Our speakers have used these and other slides in their lectures on the Pathophysiology of the Diabetic Foot and its treatment with the Circulator Boot™. Our website visitors are welcome to use this material in their own presentations.

They will find two Power Point presentations, one providing general background (Circulator Boot General Information) in the field and the other providing slides on our Method of Treatment (Method of Treatment). Use the "back" button to return from Power Point. Click on the slide to advance to the next slide. These slides project well on a large screen with a Power Point presentation. Some are too detailed to show well on a computer screen. Visitors or physicians who have slide material that they feel should be included in this presentation are to be encouraged to provide us with their material. If it is adequately documented, we will add the references to our library and the slide material to this presentation.

We include here links to various entities interested in circulatory problems of the lower limbs. To find clinics and physicians experienced in boot therapies, see the links in our section on Boot Clinics. For literature on pneumatic boots, see the "Pneumatic Boot" section in our library.

Links to Professional Organizations Promoting Education in the Vascular Diseases

• The American College of Cardiology
• American Diabetes Association
• The American Heart Association
• American Podiatric Medical Association
• American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS)
• The American Venous Forum AVF)
• Biomation, 335 Perth St., P.O. Box 156, Almonte, ON, Canada
• Bryn Mawr Wound Care and Vascular Center
• Diabetes UK, formerly the British Diabetic Association
• Diabetic Foot on MEDLINEplus
• DiabeticFootOnline.com
• The Endovascular Forum
• Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation for Vascular Laboratories
• Lymphatic Research Organization
• National Library of Medicine
• The National Lymphedema Network (NLN)
• The National Stroke Association
• Society for Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology
• The Society of Geriatric Cardiology
• The Society for Vascular Nursing
• The Society for Vascular Technology
• Vascular Biology Working Group - Translating the Science of Medicine to Clinical Practice
• Vascular Disease Foundation
• Vascular Medicine
• The Vascular Surgical Societies

Wound Healing Organization and Literature

• The Wound Healing Society
• American Professional Wound Care Association

Links to Individual Contributors

• Diabetic Foot Risk Calculator
• Chronic Wound Healing - Rita A Frantz PhD, RN, FAAN
• Betty McTague Presents "The L.E.A.P. Program"
• Rhette Drugge and Electronic Textbook of Dermatology

• The Circulator Boot™ is timed to allow each
  pulse wave to enter the leg at systole
• Compressions provide a driving force to
  disseminate blood around the leg
• Patients with a pulse rate of 60 beats/minute
  receive 1200 compressions per treatment
• The movement of oxygenated blood through
  the leg and foot promotes healing
• Treatments break down arterial thrombi and help
  form new small vessels