<p>Neck braces and
head supports used today do not allow wearers to rotate their head while
maintaining the support they need. For people with chronic muscle diseases,
such as ALS, DHS, Myasthenia Gravis, and Muscular Dystrophy, this inconvenience
greatly affects their quality of life in that it hinders their abilities to
perform activities of daily living, such as nonverbal communication and knowing
their surroundings outside without having to move their entire body. There is a
need for a head support device that allows individuals with chronic muscle
diseases to rotate their heads, so they may better perform daily activities of
living and thus live a more fulfilling life. </p>
<p>The purpose of
this study was to assess the basic stance of safety of a dynamic head support
device that allows individuals with chronic muscle diseases to rotate their
heads left and right. The assessment includes an experimental procedure that
will conclude whether this device can withstand the load equivalent to an
average adult’s head in a stationary position and a dynamic movement.</p>
<p>This research
proposed a procedure that has a testing apparatus that will place a
predetermined load onto the dynamic head support device to stabilize it and
then continuously add weight that was checked incrementally. This load was placed
on the device while it was centered and static first. The next step in this
procedure is to assess whether or not the load on the device can be carried
while dynamically moving on the race of the radial sliding track of the device.
The data recorded from this experiment will provide the necessary information to
determine whether the basic safety requirement of load capacity for a medical
device such as the one in this proposed research is met. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/9118541 |
| Date | 15 August 2019 |
| Creators | Devon J Pessler (7047479) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/An_Experimental_Study_for_Safety_of_a_New_Dynamic_Head_Support_Device_for_Individuals_with_Chronic_Muscle_Diseases/9118541 |
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