referring now to fig1 - 31 , wherein like reference numerals designate like or similar parts throughout the several views there are shown various embodiments of a treatment apparatus in according to the invention . as shown in fig1 - 6 , one embodiment of the treatment apparatus 100 includes a thermally conductive bandage 102 which has first ( lower ) and second ( upper ) surfaces 104 and 106 , a heater 108 which has first ( lower ) and second ( upper ) surfaces 110 and 112 and an attachment device 114 for joining the heater 108 and the bandage 102 in such a manner as to transfer heat from the heater 108 to the bandage 102 . preferably , the attachment device maintains surface - to - surface contact between the second surface 106 of the bandage 102 and the first surface 110 of the heater . in fig2 and 4 , the treatment apparatus 100 is shown in place covering a tissue treatment area 116 that includes a wound on a person &# 39 ; s body 118 , the wound being shown depressed . immediately adjacent the wound is a periwound area 120 which is typically a peripheral band of tissue around the wound area with less trauma than the tissue of the wound area . as will be explained in more detail hereinafter , the treatment apparatus is capable of treating a treatment area of tissue such as the wound and / or the periwound area , as desired . the second surface 106 of the bandage preferably comprises a sheet of smooth material . in a preferred embodiment , this surface may be provided by a polymeric film . a layer 122 of hydrogel , hydrocolloid , or hydrated alginate may be affixed to the polymeric film 106 by any suitable means , such as an adhesive , and may provide the first surface 104 . it is preferred that any of these combinations provide the bandage with high thermal conductivity and maintain a moist environment at the wound . in the layer 122 , a foam or gauze may be used in lieu of the compounds enumerated above . if the gauze or foam provides the first surface 104 , the gauze or foam will absorb moisture from the wound , providing the desired heat conductivity and moist environment . alternatively , the bandage 102 may simply be a single layer or film of a heat - conductive polymer so as to optimize heat conductivity of the bandage . in any embodiment of the bandage , it is preferred that the bandage be planar , as shown in fig3 and 5 , and be flexible to conform to the wound in the treatment area 116 as shown in fig4 as well as the person &# 39 ; s body , as shown in fig1 and 2 . in the embodiment 100 of the treatment apparatus , the heater 108 includes means for generating heat that may be electrically operated . for example , the means may take the form of an electrical resistance element 124 which is embedded in or laminated to a flexible planar member 126 , made from a material such as polyethylene , silicon , rubber or flexible cloth . in the preferred embodiment , the heater 108 is substantially planar , as shown in fig1 and 5 , and yet flexible in order that it conform , with the bandage , to the wound in the treatment area 116 , as shown in fig4 and to the person &# 39 ; s body as shown in fig2 and 4 . as will be explained in more detail hereinafter , the adhesive attachment device 114 joins the heater 108 to the bandage 102 , as shown in fig4 so as to maximize heat transfer between the heater 108 and the bandage 102 . as illustrated in fig1 and 4 , the electrical resistance element 124 is connected to first and second electrical conductors 128 and 130 , which are connected to an electrical power source 132 , via a controller 134 . the purpose of the controller 134 is to control electrical power provided to the electrical resistance element . 124 to maintain a normothermic environment at the wound in the treatment area 116 . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the electrical resistance element 124 may extend back and forth in the flexible layer 126 with a desired spacing to promote uniform heating of the bandage 102 . as shown in fig6 the first surface 104 of the bandage 102 is provided with an open pattern of adhesive 136 at or near its periphery . the adhesive pattern 136 may completely encompass the treatment area so as to trap the natural moisture of the body which , in turn , moistens the layer 122 of the bandage , or otherwise maintains a moist environment across the treatment area for therapy purposes . accordingly , the pattern of adhesive 136 has inner and outer boundaries 138 and 140 wherein , in the preferred embodiment , the outer boundary 140 coincides with the outer perimeter of the bandage . it should be understood that the bandage 102 , the heater 108 , and the pattern of adhesive may take various shapes , such as the square , shown in the drawings , or a rectangle , circle or ellipse , or any other regular or irregular shape , depending upon various shapes of wound treatment areas . the preferred adhesive attachment device 114 is a double - sided tape , as shown in fig5 . it is preferred that the double - sided tape be a polymeric film with first and second surfaces with first and second layers of adhesive 142 and 144 thereon . the double - sided tape comes with first and second release liners 146 and 148 which are removed so that the adhesive layers 142 and 144 can be joined to the second surface 106 of the bandage 102 and to the first surface 110 of the heater 108 , respectively , as shown in fig1 and 5 . in fig1 the release liner 146 is partially removed from the adhesive layer 142 ( see fig5 ) in preparation for attaching the heater 108 to the second surface 106 of the bandage 102 . the double - sided tape 114 is very flexible and conducts heat between the heater 108 and the bandage 102 . it is preferred that the planar dimensions of the double - sided tape 114 be the same as the planar dimension of the heater 108 so as to transfer heat from the entire first surface 110 of the heater 108 to the bandage 102 . it should be noted that , because of the polymeric film 106 forming the second surface of the bandage 102 , transfer of heat by conduction to the bandage 102 is promoted . when heat therapy is interrupted or terminated , it may be desirable to detach the heater 108 from the bandage 102 . in this regard , the heater 108 is preferably detachably joined to the bandage 102 . detachment in the embodiment just described will necessitate pulling the heater 108 away from the bandage 102 , thereby subjecting each adhesive layer therebelow to a pull force . in order for the bandage 102 to remain in place while the heater 108 is being removed , the pull strength of the attachment device 114 must be less than the pull strength of the pattern adhesive 136 . various means for achieving this objective with double - sided tape are shown in fig7 - 12 . fig7 and 8 show the adhesive layers 142 and 144 completely covering the surfaces of the polymeric film . one of these surfaces will be required to have less pull strength than the pull strength of the pattern of adhesive 136 . in a preferred embodiment , the adhesive layer 142 has less pull strength than each of the pattern of adhesive 136 and the adhesive layer 144 , allowing the heater 108 to be removed from the bandage 102 without leaving any adhesive on the bandage . this may be accomplished by employing an adhesive layer 142 which is less tacky than each of the pattern of adhesive 136 and the adhesive layer 144 . less tack can be achieved by doping the same adhesive with a solvent or inert filler , such as talcum or chalk , or employing another adhesive with a tack known to be less than the tack of the adhesives 136 and 144 . if it is desired to leave the adhesive on the bandage 102 , then the roles of the tack would be switched between the adhesive layers 142 and 144 . lower pull strength of the adhesive between the heater 108 and the bandage 102 , as compared to the pull strength of the adhesive attaching the bandage 102 to a person &# 39 ; s body , can be provided by intermittent adhesive patterns such as the circular regions 142 i shown in fig9 . in contrast , as shown in fig1 , the adhesive layer 144 would be an entire plane so that when the heater is pulled , the double - sided tape leaves with the heater 108 rather than being retained on the bandage 102 . as shown in fig9 the adhesive regions 142 i may be numerous circular dots of adhesive which are sized and spaced from one another in a matrix to provide a pull strength of the adhesive attachment device that is less than the pull strength of the pattern of adhesive 136 and less than continuous adhesive layer 144 . with this arrangement , the same adhesive may be used for the adhesive layers 142 and 144 of the double - sided tape and the pattern of adhesive 136 on the bandage . again , the layers 142 and 144 of the double - sided tape 114 may be switched if it is desired to leave the double - sided tape on the bandage 102 when the heater 108 is pulled therefrom . another intermittent adhesive pattern is shown at 142 s in fig1 , wherein diagonal spaced - apart strips of adhesive material are provided across the polymeric film . here again , the sizing of the strips and their spacing from one another are arranged so that the pull strength of the adhesive attachment device is less than the pull strength of each of the body adhesive layer 136 and the full plane adhesive layer 144 in fig1 . it should be understood that the intermittent adhesive structure may take various patterns in order to achieve the desired reduction in pull strength . the spacing between the intermittent layers should be made as small as possible so as to promote conductive heat transfer between the heater 108 and the bandage 102 . in fig1 the adhesive layer 142 of the double - sided tape has been applied to the first surface 110 of the heater 108 and the release liner 146 has been partially removed from the first adhesive layer 142 , similar to the showing in fig1 . the heater 108 may be supplied with the double - sided tape in place , as shown in fig1 , or may be supplied separately as described and shown in fig5 . manifestly , an attachment device should permit the heater and bandage to be joined in such a way as to maximize heat transfer therebetween while permitting the heater to be detached from the bandage without detaching the bandage from the skin . while various adhesive configurations are shown for this purpose , it is contemplated that other attachment mechanisms could be used . fig1 - 16 illustrate various embodiments of electrical resistance heaters 108 . in the heater 108 a shown in fig1 a , and electrical resistance element 124 a winds back and forth within the flexible planar member 126 , similar to what is shown in fig1 . the spacing between the windings of the electrical resistance element 124 a may be sized so as to ensure substantially uniform heating . fig1 b shows the electrical resistance element embedded or laminated in the flexible planar member 126 . in fig1 a , the electrical resistance element 124 b takes a path along a peripheral zone of the flexible planar member 126 , so that the periphery of the heater 108 b is uniformly heated to a temperature greater than a central portion of the heater . again , these electrical resistance elements 124 b are shown embedded or laminated in the flexible planar member 126 in fig1 b . in fig1 a , the electrical resistance element 124 c takes a spiral path out and back within a central region of the heater 108 c so as to uniformly heat the central region of the heater to a higher temperature than regions outbound therefrom . the heater 108 a is adapted for applying heat to both the wound and periwound area 116 and 120 in fig4 the heater 108 b is adapted for applying heat principally to the periwound area 120 , and the heater 108 c is adapted for applying heat principally to the wound 116 . another embodiment 200 of the treatment apparatus is illustrated in fig1 , wherein an adhesive layer 202 is on the second surface 106 of the bandage 102 and / or an adhesive layer 204 is on the first surface 110 of the heater 108 . various embodiments of these attachment devices are illustrated in fig1 - 28 . the first embodiment of the attachment device is shown in fig1 and 19 , wherein the heater 108 is provided with the adhesive layer 204 and the bandage 102 is not provided with any adhesive layer . in fig2 and 21 , the situation is reversed wherein the bandage 102 is provided with the adhesive layer 202 and the heater 108 does not have an adhesive layer . fig2 and 23 illustrate a still further embodiment wherein the bandage 102 is provided with the adhesive layer 202 and the heater 108 is provided with the adhesive layer 204 . the adhesive layers 202 and 204 in fig2 and 23 may be made from an adhesive which will bond only when these two adhesive layers are placed in contact with one another . otherwise , the adhesive layer 204 will not bond to the polymeric surface surrounding the adhesive layer 202 , or any other surface including a person &# 39 ; s skin . this scheme antage from the standpoint that adhesive layers 202 and 204 on the bandage 102 and the heater 108 , respectively , will not attach to anything until they are brought into contact between the heater 108 and the bandage 102 . this promotes manufacturability , logistics and operation of the invention . a suitable adhesive for this purpose is 3m acrylic adhesive a40 ( of the kind used in 3m repositionable tape , product number 665 ). it is desirable that the pull strength of the adhesive attachment devices shown in fig1 - 23 be lower than the pull strength of the body adhesive 136 shown in fig6 . this can be accomplished by making the tack of the adhesive attachment device less than the tack of the pattern of adhesive 136 . attachment devices employing intermittent adhesive patterns are shown in fig2 - 28 . the embodiment in fig2 and 25 shows the heater 108 provided with circular spaced - apart adhesive regions 204 c , while the bandage 102 is not provided with any adhesive . in the embodiment shown in fig2 and 27 , each of the bandage 102 and the heater 108 is provided with diagonal spaced - apart adhesive strips 202 d and 204 d , respectively . when these adhesive strips are brought into contact with one another , as shown in fig2 , they criss - cross one another to provide the desired bonding between the heater 108 and the bandage 102 . the adhesive areas of the intermittent adhesive patterns shown in fig2 - 28 are sized and spaced from one another so that the pull strength of each attachment device is less than the pull strength of the pattern of adhesive 136 shown in fig6 as discussed hereinabove . again , the size of the intermittent adhesive patterns and the spacing therebetween should be tailored to maximize thermal conductivity between the heater 108 and the bandage 102 and yet ensure that the pull strength between the heater and the bandage is less than the pull strength between the bandage and the person &# 39 ; s body . another embodiment 300 of the treatment apparatus is illustrated in fig2 - 31 . in this embodiment , a heater 302 employs heated water as the means for generating heat to be provided to the bandage 102 and then to a treatment area covered by the bandage . the heater 302 may comprise a pouch 304 which has water channels extending back and forth in series from an inlet end 308 to an outlet end 310 . the pouch 304 may be made by thermo - setting the periphery as well as channel lines of a pair of polymeric films 312 and 314 as shown in fig3 . the bottom film 314 may be stiffer than the top film 312 . heated water is supplied by inlet and outlet water lines 316 and 318 which are connected to a water heater 320 via a pump 322 . a controller 324 is provided for controlling the temperature of the water in the water heater 320 and the amount of water pumped by the pump 322 . the heated water is preferably maintained at such a temperature and flow rate that the tissue in the treatment area 116 is maintained at a normothermic temperature . the bandage 102 may comprise any of the aforementioned embodiments . further , the attachment device for attaching the heater 302 to the bandage 102 may comprise any of the aforementioned adhesive attachment devices . or any equivalent devices or arrangements that connect the heater and bandage for maximum thermal conductivity , yet allow detachment of the heater from the bandage without detaching the bandage from a patient &# 39 ; s skin . the preferred attachment device is the double - sided tape 114 shown in fig3 , which has been described in detail hereinabove . another suitable attachment device is shown in fig3 wherein the water heater 302 is provided with an adhesive layer 326 and a release liner 328 . the release liner 328 is simply pulled from the adhesive layer 326 and the adhesive layer 326 is employed for attaching the water heater 302 to the polymeric surface 106 of the bandage 102 . fig3 is a block diagram of a treatment apparatus 900 for providing normothermic heat therapy to a treatment area on a limb or body portion of a patient . the treatment apparatus 900 includes a heater 902 disposed on a bandage 904 over a treatment area ( not shown ) on a limb or body portion 906 of a person or patient . the heater 902 is disposed on the bandage 904 over the treatment area for conduction of heat from the heater 902 , through bandage 906 , to the treatment area . the heater 902 makes contact with the bandage 904 and may be attached to it by any of the numerous attachment schemes discussed previously , or any equivalents thereto . a power supply 908 provides electrical power to the heater 902 by way of a controller 910 . the controller 910 may comprise , for example , a processor 912 . preferably the processor 912 includes manual entry logic 914 , normothermia logic 916 , and timing logic 918 . manual entry logic 914 may be conventional logic of the kind used , for example , to set various timing functions in a wrist watch . for the purposes of the controller 910 , the manual entry logic 914 receives , from conventional manually - operated devices , such as buttons , a user input for setting a temperature of the heater 902 ( set temp ), a user input for setting a number of cycles ( set cycle ), and a user input for setting cycle duration ( set duration ). these inputs are only examples . other inputs may set therapy cycle duration , number of duty cycles per therapy cycle , average heater temperature per duty cycle , average heater temperature per therapy cycle , and peak and minimum temperatures for a therapy cycle . the timing logic 918 is conventional , providing timing functions for implementing cycle times and durations . the normothermia logic 916 controls connection of the power supply 908 to the heater 902 in a manner that implements normothermic treatment of tissue by heating the tissue in and near a treatment area to a temperature in a normothermic range . in order to control the course of such treatment , the normothermia logic 916 receives signals from sensors 920 , 922 and 924 that indicate , respectively , an ambient temperature , the heater temperature , and the tissue temperature at or near the treatment area . the heater 902 is powered by a heater on / off signal that comprises a voltage obtained from the power supply 908 . the controller 910 may comprise a programmable , general purpose processor , a programmable special purpose processor , a specially - designed electronic circuit , or an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ), or any equivalent . preferably , the controller 910 is a multi - state machine that may transition between specified states of operation automatically , in response to manual inputs , or programmed functions , or both . assuming that at least some of the fimctions of the controller 910 are implemented in the controller by programming , the normothermnia logic 916 may include a control program embodied in a programmable memory , a programmable logic circuit , or both . further the manual entry logic 914 permits a user to enter or change parameter values and provides user control of functions and operations . the controller 910 , and power supply 908 may be integrated mechanically into a single unit that may include the heater 902 , or provided in a separate package that is electrically connected to the heater 902 . the power supply 908 may comprise a battery , battery pack , an ac / dc converter , or any other equivalent device that may be switched on and off to the heater 902 . the controller 910 controls the temperature and one or more heat cycles of the heater 902 so as to maintain normothermic or near - normothermic tissue temperature at a treatment area on a person &# 39 ; s body . by sensing the temperature of tissue at the treatment area with the sensor 924 , the temperature of the heater 902 may be controlled to accomplish this purpose . alternatively , normothermic or near - normothermic temperature of tissue at the treatment area may be maintained in response to the temperature of the heater itself 902 , which is sensed by the sensor 922 . if the sensor 922 at the heater 902 is used instead of the sensor 924 , a , compensation may be made for any heat loss in the thermal path from the heater 902 , through the bandage 904 , to the treatment area . preferably , the heater 902 , the bandage 904 , and the interface between them are designed to minimize heat loss . if heat loss is small , any differential between heat measured by the sensor 922 and heat measured by the sensor 924 may be small enough to merit elimination of one of the sensors . in any event , either , or both , of the sensors 922 and . 924 may be deployed to measure the temperature of the heater 902 and the tissue at the treatment area . preferably , the controller 910 operates the heater 902 in such a manner as to maintain a limited heat range , centered on the normothermic level of temperature , at a treatment area . preferably , this range is from about 36 ° c . to about 38 ° c ., although it may be somewhat greater or smaller . to accomplish this purpose , the controller 910 may turn the heater 902 on and off over one or more duty cycles of the heater 902 and one or more therapy cycles . in this regard , a therapy cycle is a plurality of duty cycles followed by a period of time during which the heater 902 is off . a plurality of therapy cycles may constitute a therapeutic sequence that may last for one day or longer . after a number of therapy cycles in a therapeutic sequence , the heater 902 is turned off for a longer period of time and then may be turned on again for another plurality of therapy cycles . when the heater 902 is turned off at the end of a therapeutic sequence , the temperature of the treatment apparatus 900 and the temperature of the treatment area may approach the ambient temperature in the space where the patient is located . it is assumed that the ambient temperature is at or below normothermia . by way of example , and without limiting the scope of treatment versatility , fig3 is a graphic representation of a normothermic treatment regimen that may be implemented by the normothermia logic 916 and actually delivered by operation of the treatment apparatus 900 . in fig3 , a plurality of duty cycles 980 has been depicted as a curve 982 over a therapy cycle ; tissue temperature response to the therapy cycle is represented by a curve 983 , the tissue temperature response being indicated by the temperature sensor 924 of fig3 . time ( t ) is represented along the abscissa and temperature ( t ) along the ordinate . a tissue temperature target value t tar , which is preferably normothermic , has been entered into the heater controller 910 and the heater 902 is started at t 0 . the tissue temperature is initially at t a and the heater 902 is initially at ambient temperature t amb . by turning on the heater at to , the first of the plurality of duty cycles for the heater begins in order to provide heat with which to raise the tissue temperature to t tar . the heater controller 910 raises the operating temperature of the heater 902 to t h based on the value , either programmed or input , for t tar ; the heater controller causes the heater 902 to operate according to a duty cycle to provide t tar to at least a portion of the selected treatment area . the tissue target temperature t tar value is reached at t l , at which time the heater is turned off . alternatively , although not shown , upon reaching t tar , the controller 910 could have changed t h to a lower value and kept the heater active in order to maintain the tissue temperature at t tar . by way of another example , and not limiting in scope of treatment versatility , a plurality of therapy cycles 984 actually delivered by operation of the treatment apparatus 900 are depicted in fig3 , wherein individual duty cycles within each therapy cycle have been averaged out for purposes of clarification and for purposes herein are treated as the heater being “ on ”. a first therapy cycle begins at to as depicted by the heater 902 turning “ on ”, as shown by a heater temperature curve 986 . a tissue temperature target value t tar has been entered into the heater controller 910 ; the tissue temperature response is shown in a curve 988 . the tissue start temperature is t a and the starting heater temperature is at about ambient , t amb . the heater remains “ on ” until the tissue temperature has reached t tar as monitored directly by the sensor 924 in fig3 , or as predicted by an appropriate heating paradigm employing the sensor 922 . as shown , t tar is reached at t l at which time the heater is turned “ off ”. as in the previous example , an alternative is that the heater controller 910 selects an alternate heating output , chosen to maintain the tissue temperature at about t tar . as depicted in fig3 , however , the tissue temperature is allowed to drift downwardly with the heater “ off ” until the tissue temperature reaches a temperature t min that is either programmed or pre - selected as a value in the controller 910 or the program control 912 . upon reaching t min , the heater 902 is turned “ on ” again , as shown at t 2 , so as to provide heat to the selected treatment area so as to raise the tissue temperature to t tar . this first therapy cycle ends at t 2 when a second therapy cycle begins by turning “ on ” the heater again . as in the first therapy cycle , this second therapy cycle provides heat to the tissue to reach the tissue target temperature , t tar . alternatively this second therapy cycle may have a different t tar , or optionally may have a different cycle length calling for the controller 910 to change the heater output . the present invention anticipates the use of any number of therapy cycles having any length or duration per cycle and different set temperatures , and a plurality of therapy cycles contributing to a therapeutic sequence . for the above examples , t tar may be programmed in the controller 910 or directly selected by an operator employing the manual entry logic 914 . for the present invention , this tissue target temperature is in a range preferably of about 360 ° c . to 38 ° c . another aspect of therapy control according to the present invention is the averaging tissue target temperatures of duty cycles , therapy cycles and a therapeutic sequence , as depicted in fig3 . in fig3 , a therapy cycle 990 starts at t 0 and ends at t 0 . the tissue target temperature average t avg 992 for this therapy cycle may be selected or programmed . the tissue temperature change , as depicted by a temperature curve 994 , begins at a temperature t a , rises as it is heated by the heater to a peak temperature t b during the “ on ” phase of the heater 902 , as depicted by a heater temperature curve , and then drifts downwardly to a minimum temperature t c over an additional period of time such that the total period of time is equivalent to the period t 0 to t l . t avg 992 represents the average of the temperatures between t c and t b , wherein each of the temperature t a and t c , are within the normothermic range of 360 ° c . to 38 ° c . an alternative approach , also depicted in fig3 , anticipates the programming of a number of therapy cycles as elements of a therapeutic sequence , in this example there being two therapy cycles 990 and 996 of varying times and tissue target temperatures . the present invention provides for the inputting of an average tissue target temperature t avg 998 between minimum and peak temperatures t a and t c for a therapeutic sequence extending from t 0 to t t . a tissue temperature response curve has not been shown for this example . by way of example , and not limiting in scope of treatment versatility , fig3 is a graphic representation of a therapy cycle 1000 represented by a plurality of duty cycles 1002 . at t 0 , the heater is at ambient temperature t amb and the first of the duty cycles 1002 begins at t 0 when the heater 902 reaches t min . upon reaching t peak by t l , the heater power is turned off and the heater cools to t min . the first duty cycle is completed at t 3 when the heater is turned back on to begin the next duty cycle . this first duty cycle and subsequent duty cycles maintain an average heater temperature t set as sensed by the temperature sensor 922 in fig3 . the duty cycle can also be governed by the total duration t l , to t 3 and the ratio of heat on duration t l , to t 3 over total duration t l , to t 3 . a therapy cycle for this example is the time duration from t 0 to t t during which time the heater temperature has been allowed to fall to t amb , where at t t the heating regimen begins again starting the next therapy cycle . as shown in fig3 , a peak temperature , t peak and a minimum temperature t min may be parameters inputted into the program . an average temperature t set may then be selected to operate between t min and t peak within a normothermic range of 36 ° c . to 38 ° c . by way of another example , and not limiting in scope of treatment versatility , a plurality of therapy cycles 1004 , 1005 and 1006 are depicted in fig3 , wherein individual duty cycles within each therapy cycle have been averaged out for purposes of clarification and for purposes herein are treated as the heater being “ on ”. a first therapy cycle begins at to as depicted by the heater turning “ on ”, i . e ., a series of duty cycles is begun , and the heater heats to t set 1007 . this “ on ” segment goes until ti at which time the heater is turned “ off ” and allowed to cool to t amb . this first therapy cycle 1004 ends at t 2 when the second therapy cycle 1005 begins by turning “ on ” the heater 902 again . as in the first therapy cycle , this second therapy cycle heats to t set 1009 and has a duration from t 2 to t 3 . the third therapy cycle 1006 begins at t 3 turning “ on ” the heater 902 . for purposes of example to depict anticipated versatility of the present invention , this third therapy cycle is given a different t set 1008 . the heater 902 is turned “ off ” at t 4 . this entire period of multiple therapy cycles may also be part of a therapeutic sequence as that period of time from t 0 to t t encompassing three therapy cycles . the present invention anticipates the use of any number of therapy cycles having any length or duration per cycle and different set temperatures , whether the temperatures be a set level or averaged . another aspect of heat therapy control is the averaging of a number of therapy cycles in a therapeutic sequence , as depicted in fig3 . in fig3 a therapy cycle 1010 starts at t 0 and ends at t l . the overall average heater temperature t avg for this therapy cycle may be selected or programmed . the heater 902 , beginning at an ambient temperature t amb , heats to an appropriate temperature for the “ on ” phase and then is “ off ” for an additional appropriate time such that the total period of time is equivalent to the period t 0 to t l , and the average temperature for this period is equivalent to t avg 1012 . an alternative approach , also depicted in fig3 , anticipates the selection or programming of a number of therapy cycles as elements of a therapeutic sequence , in this example there being three therapy cycles 1012 , 1014 and 1016 of varying time and heater temperatures . the present invention versatility provides for the inputting of an average temperature t avg 1018 for the therapeutic sequence . the therapeutic sequence begins at time t 0 and ends at time t t . the heater temperatures and durations of the therapy cycles within the therapeutic sequence are averaged by the controller 910 over the entire period of time from t 0 to t t so as to achieve the therapeutic average temperature t avg 1018 . each of these average temperatures is preferably at a level to maintain an average tissue temperature of between 36 ° c . to 38 ° c . for implementing normothermic heat treatment during a series of duty cycles followed by a heater off period at the end of each therapy cycle . it should be understood , however , that the invention can be employed to maintain tissue temperature at any desired set temperature level or temperature average . clearly , other embodiments and modifications of this invention will occur readily to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of these teachings . therefore , this invention is to be limited only by the following claims , which include all such embodiments and modifications when viewed in conjunction with the above specification and accompanying drawings .
a treatment apparatus includes a heater , a structure supporting the heater against tissue , and a controller connected to the heater for maintaining a tissue temperature under the structure in a normothermic range of 36 ° c . to 38 ° c . the apparatus is useful for treating tissue , wounds , and the like .