Surgery: kinesitherapy – Kinesitherapy – Means for passive movement of disabled extremity to return...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-24
2004-05-04
DeMille, Dahton D. (Department: 3764)
Surgery: kinesitherapy
Kinesitherapy
Means for passive movement of disabled extremity to return...
C601S040000, C601S072000, C601S087000, C600S545000, C602S021000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06730049
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical device intended to be worn by a person suffering from severe debilitating dyskinesia (shaking, tremors). In particular, the present invention is a hand tremor stabilizer which utilizes a gyroscope to counteract unwanted and uncontrollable movements that a person's arms are subject to due to dyskinesia.
2. Discussion of Background Information
There are many individuals who are unable to manage many of the routines of daily living due to the fact that their arms shake uncontrollably. These men and women suffer from a variety of ailments that have a common symptom, severe debilitating dyskinesia (shaking, tremors). Individuals with this problem do not have enough stability and control of their hands to allow them to perform seemingly simple tasks, such as: holding a glass of water without spilling it, eating without the embarrassment of bringing a fork to their mouth while dropping the food, holding and reading a newspaper without it shaking uncontrollably, or signing one's own name.
Currently, there is a known device that has been designed to prevent uncontrollable tremors, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,571, which provides a gyroscope that is held against the backside of the human hand by a VELCRO strap to reduce or eliminate the effect of tremors. The gyroscope is driven by an electric motor energized by batteries. The batteries are mounted near the periphery of the gyroscope to enhance the gyroscopic action. In a modified form of the known device, the motor is not mounted on the backside of the hand but is a separate unit to which the gyroscope can be readily coupled and uncoupled when required.
However, U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,571 has several major disadvantages. In particular, the aforementioned device is only capable of canceling out unwanted movement in one planar direction since the gyroscope configuration disclosed is a one flywheel or one dimensional countereffective gyroscope.
To understand the drawbacks of the aforementioned device, it is first essential to understand some basics about gyroscopes and their countereffect to any applied force, otherwise known as precession.
When a gyroscope is spinning it contains stored energy. Under Newton's first law of motion, any body will continue in its state of motion until outside forces change it, whether the body is still or traveling. For every action upon a spinning gyroscope, there is an equal, yet 90 degree reaction to the force applied to the gyroscope. Thus, if the gyroscope is moved, the gyroscope will compensate for this movement. A one flywheel gyroscope is only capable of countereffecting a force vector about one axis or in one plane. A two flywheel gyroscope is capable of countereffecting forces in two planes or two dimensions. A three flywheel gyroscope is capable of countereffecting force in all three dimensions.
Since a gyroscope is an instrument that resists change in the direction in which it is traveling, in spite of external forces which may be attempting to change its course, the gyroscope may be used to dampen and eliminate any outside forces that might be directed toward an object. For purposes of this application, a tremor of the hand, wrist, and arm can be considered such an external force that keeps the same from moving in its planned course. Thus, a gyroscope can be used to stabilize the dyskinesia (tremors) of the hand.
With respect to the handheld gyroscopic device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,571, when the gyroscope is rotating, the gyroscope is only capable of canceling unwanted motion from the arm with respect to one planar direction. As a result, the direction of the force component which the tremor is canceled out depends on the spinning rotation of the gyroscope (i.e. clockwise or counterclockwise). A drawback to the one flywheel approach is that tremors are rarely one dimensional in nature with respect to arm movement. Rather, the arm typically flails in unpredictable motion about one, two, or three axes. Since the aforementioned handheld gyroscope is only a one flywheel design, tremors in the second and third planes are not countereffected.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,571 has another major disadvantage in that the placement of the gyroscope is permanently fixed in one position on the device (i.e. above the hand of the user). Because the gyroscope cannot be moved, the cancellation effect of the unwanted tremor force is limited to the area of the user's hand. Since tremors are the result of the larger forearm muscles, as well as the smaller intrinsic muscles of the hand, positioning the gyroscope on the top of the hand is not the most effective position because the countereffect of the gyroscope is truly misfocused on the main source of tremors, i.e., the larger forearm muscles.
Furthermore, the positioning of the gyroscope on the top of the hand may not be ergonomically feasible depending on the activity sought to be performed by the user utilizing the aforementioned device. Also, it would be more desirable to provide a mounting system for the gyroscope which addresses and stabilizes not only the hand area, but also the forearm area of the user.
What is needed is a hand tremor stabilizer which is capable of being adjusted and tuned to a higher degree of fidelity according to the user's needs. For instance, if the user suffers from serious tremors which move his/her hand violently in different directions, a two flywheel gyroscope is preferable over a one flywheel design.
Furthermore, adjustability and tunability is needed with respect to the placement of the gyroscope on the hand, wrist and arm. Each person's tremors are different. As a result, the best way to countereffect the uncontrollable shaking of each person, is to find the best position for the gyroscope for each person's individual tremor characteristics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention removes the aforementioned disadvantages by providing a hand tremor stabilizer which is adjustable. In particular, the present invention discloses numerous embodiments which allow a plurality of gyroscopes to be mounted in numerous positions proximate the patient's arm, wrist, and arm area. This feature provides for enhanced ergonomic characteristics. For instance, a patient which may require stabilization of his/her arm while writing on a desk, most likely will prefer a hand tremor stabilizer configuration in which the gyroscope is mounted on the top of the forearm (“dorsal perspective”) so that the gyroscope does not interfere with the writing surface. However, a person holding a pistol may prefer a hand tremor stabilizer in which the gyroscope is mounted underneath or on a side of the arm.
Furthermore, an advantage of the present invention is that it is tunable. Each patient's tremors are unique to that individual. Some patients may have violent tremors, while other patients perhaps only have mild shaking. Since the countereffect or stabilization force of a gyroscope is dependent on the number of flywheels the gyroscope has, this characteristic may be utilized to the patient's advantage. For instance, if a patient's tremors are only one dimensional in nature (or only in one plane), then only a one flywheel gyroscope needs to be used since all that is required are countereffective force in the same plane. Furthermore, if the patient's tremors are so predictable that it is known precisely in which direction the tremors will project the patient's arm towards, the gyroscope can be operated to spin in a specific direction to induce panning of the person's arm in a direction opposite to that of the predictable tremors.
However, if a patient's tremors occur over two or three planes, then the application of a two or three flywheel gyroscope or double gyroscope configuration is preferred since these configurations can cancel out forces in all three planes. In this circumstance, the patient's tremors can be analyzed and it can be determined about which axes the tremors most likely
DeMille Dahton D.
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
LandOfFree
Adjustable and tunable hand tremor stabilizer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Adjustable and tunable hand tremor stabilizer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Adjustable and tunable hand tremor stabilizer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3213664