CN112120893A

CN112120893A - Animal hind limb stretching device

Info

Publication number: CN112120893A
Application number: CN202011029567.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙联文; 童宇豪; 王守辉; 蒲放; 樊瑜波
Original assignee: Beihang University
Current assignee: Beihang University
Priority date: 2020-09-27
Filing date: 2020-09-27
Publication date: 2020-12-25

Abstract

The invention discloses an animal hind limb stretching device which comprises a base, a fixed box, a pedal, a motor and a stretching device controller.

Description

Animal hind limb stretching device

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of biomedical engineering, and particularly relates to an animal hind limb stretching device.

Background

Muscle and bone following limb immobilization or unloading, osteoporosis and muscle atrophy can occur. Stretching is a movement that increases the length of muscles and is widely used in clinical practice to treat diseases of the musculoskeletal system, effectively restoring joint mobility and muscle strength. Due to the limitations of clinical studies, the mechanism of the effect of stretching on the musculoskeletal system is generally studied through animal experiments.

In a conventional animal hind limb stretching experiment, stretching was performed mainly by bare hands or using a fixture. If the thermoplastic bracket is used for keeping the angle of the ankle joint of the animal at 30 degrees, stretching the soleus muscle; carrying out dorsiflexion stretching on the ankle joint of the rat through a spring dynamometer; the rats were anesthetized and placed on their backs on the fixed platform, and the feet of the rats were pressed down with the instrument to stretch the hind limb muscles. However, these stretching methods have the following disadvantages:

first, in clinical treatment, the patient is typically awake. In animal experiments, researchers anaesthetize animals and then stretch them for ease of handling, which is inconsistent with clinical treatment. After the animal is anesthetized, the mechanical property and nerve reflex of the muscle are different from those of the animal in a waking state due to the weakening of muscle tension and stretch reflex, and the stretching is difficult to produce the required effect.

Second, due to individual patient variability, therapists apply different amounts of force to different patients to achieve the appropriate stretching angle for therapeutic effect. In an animal stretching experiment, stretching is usually performed by a constant force, and a proper stretching angle cannot be ensured, so that the stretching effect is influenced.

Meanwhile, in animal studies, it is found that the damage of the sarcolemma and the reduction of the joint mobility are easily caused by the long-time continuous stretching, and the muscle recovery is more promoted by the periodic stretching.

In view of the above, in the field of biomedical engineering technology, there is a need for a stretching device for animal hind limbs, which can quantitatively control the stretching angle and perform periodic stretching.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the defects of the prior art and better research the influence mechanism of stretching on the hind limbs of the animal, the invention provides the hind limb stretching device for the animal, which can periodically stretch the hind limbs of the animal in a waking state, can adjust the stretching angle according to the individual difference of the animal and ensures the stretching effect. The specific technical scheme of the invention is as follows:

an animal hind limb stretching device comprises a base, a fixed box, a pedal, a motor and a stretching device controller, wherein,

the fixed box base is fixed on the base, and the fixed box is movably connected on the fixed box base, namely the angle between the fixed box and the fixed box base can be adjusted;

the pedal is of a U-shaped plate structure, the front half section of the pedal is inclined downwards by 30 degrees and used for controlling the motion range of the hind limbs of the animal and completing stretching, the motor is connected with the pedal through a rotating shaft, and the motor is connected with a stretching device controller (107) through a screw;

the fixed box comprises a sliding box, a positioning box positioned in the sliding box, a movable bolt positioned in the sliding box, and a trunk supporting beam positioned at the bottom of the sliding box and used for supporting the trunk of the back half of an animal, wherein the sliding box is composed of two parts capable of sliding up and down relatively, and the height of an internal space can be changed; the outer wall of the positioning box is attached to the inner wall of the sliding box, and the positioning box can move back and forth in the sliding box to change the length of the inner space of the sliding box; the movable bolt is used for adjusting the angle between the fixed box and the fixed box base;

the stretching device controller comprises a power supply, a control module and a motor driver which are electrically connected.

Furthermore, a side sliding groove and a sliding box fixing hole are formed in the side face of the sliding box, and the sliding box are connected through a screw and are fixed; the top of the sliding box is provided with a top sliding groove, the top of the positioning box is provided with a positioning box fixing hole, and the positioning box and the sliding box are connected and fixed through a screw.

Furthermore, the positioning box is provided with vent holes at the periphery for breathing and ventilation of animals.

Further, the fixed box base and the stretching device controller are bonded through organic glass cement or fixed on the base through screws.

Furthermore, the fixed box is connected to the fixed box base through an angle code.

A method of using an animal hind limb stretching device, the method comprising the steps of:

s1: the method comprises the following steps of putting an animal into a black cloth bag, then putting the animal into a fixed box, moving a positioning box and a sliding box, and changing the space length and the space height inside the fixed box to enable the rear half trunk of the animal to be positioned on a trunk supporting beam, wherein hind limbs can penetrate through holes in two sides of the trunk supporting beam and touch a pedal;

s2: rotating the movable bolt to adjust the angle between the fixed box and the fixed box base;

s3: fixing the hind limbs of the animal on the inclined plane of the pedal by using an adhesive tape to ensure that the feet of the animal are relaxed and attached to the inclined plane of the pedal;

s4: the control module is arranged to control the motor driver so as to change the rotation range of the motor, so that the stretching angle of the pedal is adjusted, the stretching device controller is started, and the motor is used for driving the pedal to periodically stretch the hind limbs of the animal.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

1. the device of the invention can stretch the hind limb of the animal without anaesthetizing the animal and is more in line with the actual condition of the patient in stretching clinically.

2. The angle of the fixing box can be adjusted, and animals can be stretched in different postures, so that the angle of stretching can be better adapted.

3. The stepping motor in the device drives the pedal to move periodically, so that the hind limb of the animal is stretched periodically, and the stretching angle is adjusted by controlling the movement range of the pedal through a program.

Drawings

In order to illustrate embodiments of the present invention or technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, the drawings which are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, so that the features and advantages of the present invention can be understood more clearly by referring to the drawings, which are schematic and should not be construed as limiting the present invention in any way, and for a person skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained on the basis of these drawings without any inventive effort. Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the construction of an animal hind limb stretching apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the movement trace of the pedal driven by the motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of the fixing box of the present invention, wherein (a) is a front view of the fixing box, (b) is a left view of the fixing box, (c) is a right view of the fixing box, (d) is a bottom view of the fixing box, and (e) is a positioning box;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a controller of the stretching apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a graph of experimental results (tibial Micro-CT scan reconstruction) for an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows the experimental results (cancellous bone density) of examples of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows the experimental results (soleus muscle strength) of the example of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows the result of an experiment (soleus wet weight) of an example of the present invention;

fig. 10 shows a prior art stretching apparatus.

The reference numbers illustrate:

101-base, 102-stationary box base, 103-stationary box, 104-corner connector, 105-pedal, 106-motor, 107-stretching device controller;

201-side sliding groove, 202-sliding box fixing hole, 203-positioning box, 204-top sliding groove, 205-sliding box, 206-trunk supporting beam, 207-positioning box fixing hole, 208-vent hole, 209-movable bolt;

301-power supply, 302-control module, 303-motor drive.

Detailed Description

In order that the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention can be more clearly understood, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, however, the present invention may be practiced in other ways than those specifically described herein, and therefore the scope of the present invention is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

As shown in fig. 10, a stretching apparatus in the prior art, as shown in fig. 1 to 4, is an animal hind limb stretching apparatus, which comprises a base 101, a stationary box base 102, a stationary box 103, a pedal 105, a motor 106, a stretching apparatus controller 107, wherein,

the fixed box base 102 is fixed on the base 101, and the fixed box 103 is movably connected on the fixed box base 102, namely the angle between the fixed box 103 and the fixed box base 102 can be adjusted;

the pedal 105 is of a U-shaped plate structure, the front half section of the pedal is inclined downwards by 30 degrees and used for controlling the motion range of the hind limbs of the animal and completing stretching, the motor 106 is connected with the pedal 105 through a rotating shaft, and the motor 106 is connected with the stretching device controller 107 through a screw;

the fixed box 103 comprises a sliding box 205, a positioning box 203 positioned in the sliding box 205, a movable bolt 209 positioned in the sliding box 205, and a trunk supporting beam 206 positioned at the bottom of the sliding box 205 and used for supporting the back half trunk of an animal, wherein the sliding box 205 is composed of two parts which can slide up and down relatively and can change the height of an internal space; the outer wall of the positioning box 203 is attached to the inner wall of the sliding box 205, the positioning box 203 can move back and forth in the sliding box 205, and the length of the inner space of the sliding box 205 is changed; the movable bolt 209 is used for adjusting the angle between the fixed box 103 and the fixed box base 102;

the positioning box 203 and the sliding box 205 are simple in structure, the length and the height of the inner space of the fixing box 103 are changed by moving the positioning box 203 and the sliding box 205, the size of the fixing box 103 is more suitable for the animal, the rear half part of the trunk of the animal is arranged on the trunk support 206 beam, and the feet are positioned on the pedal 105, so that the stretching is ensured.

The stretching device controller 110 includes a power supply 301, a control module 302, and a motor driver 303 electrically connected.

In some embodiments, the sliding box 205 is provided with a side sliding groove 201 and a sliding box fixing hole 202 at the side, and the sliding box 205 is fixed and connected by a screw; the top of the sliding box 205 is provided with a top sliding chute 204, the top of the positioning box 203 is provided with a positioning box fixing hole 207, and the two are connected and fixed with the positioning box 203 through screws.

In some embodiments, vents 208 are provided around the positioning box 203 for animal respiratory ventilation. The fixed box 103 is all around the relatively confined environment, gets rid of the interference of the external environment of experimentation, can let the animal be in and experiment under the quiet state to guarantee tensile effect, have the bleeder vent on the box 203 of location simultaneously, guaranteed the breathing of animal in tensile process.

In some embodiments, the cassette base 102 and the stretching device controller 107 are glued by plexiglas or fixed to the base 101 by screws.

In some embodiments, the cassette 103 is attached to the cassette base 102 by corner clips 104.

s1: the animal is put into the fixed box 103 after being sleeved into the black cloth bag, the positioning box 203 and the sliding box 205 are moved, the space length and the space height inside the fixed box 103 are changed, the back half trunk of the animal is positioned on the trunk supporting beam 206, and hind limbs can penetrate through holes on two sides of the trunk supporting beam 206 and touch the pedal 105;

s2: rotating the movable bolt 209 to adjust the angle between the fixed box 103 and the fixed box base 102;

s3: fixing the hind limbs of the animal on the inclined plane of the pedal 105 by using an adhesive tape to ensure that the feet of the animal are relaxed and fit with the inclined plane of the pedal 105;

s4: the control module 302 is arranged to control the motor driver 303 to further change the rotation range of the motor 106, so as to adjust the stretching angle of the pedal 105, start the stretching device controller 107, drive the pedal 105 by the motor 106, and periodically stretch the hind limb of the animal.

For the convenience of understanding the above technical aspects of the present invention, the following detailed description will be given of the above technical aspects of the present invention by way of specific examples.

Example 1

32 rats were randomly divided into CON control group, TS tail sling group, TSs tail sling tensile group, CS ground tensile group, each group in equal number. As shown in fig. 5, the experiment was performed for 4 weeks, during which time:

(1) CON control group, continuously free to move on the ground;

(2) the TS tail hanging group is a continuous tail hanging, namely a rat is in a state that the head and the ground form a 30-degree angle, the tail is hung, and the hind limb is hung in the air to remove load, so that the posture and the stress condition of the body of an astronaut during space flight are simulated, and the rat in the tail hanging can generate the symptoms of bone density reduction and muscle atrophy;

(3) the TSS tail crane stretching group stretches for 30 minutes every day, and the rest of the time is continuously tail-hoisted together with the TS tail crane group;

(4) the CS ground stretching group stretches for 30 minutes every day, and the rest time and the CON control group freely move on the ground;

after completing the experiment for 4 weeks, detecting soleus muscles and shin bones of 4 groups of rats, wherein fig. 6 is an original experiment result graph, and the distribution of trabeculae is visually displayed through CT scanning reconstruction; fig. 7 is a result of using software to calculate the number of trabeculae in fig. 6, which is equivalent to quantifying the trabeculae, and finally obtaining the data of bone density, as shown in fig. 7, the cancellous bone density of the TS tail suspension group is significantly reduced to 0.2g/cm3, but there is no significant difference between the TSs tail suspension tensile group, the CON control group and the CS ground tensile group.

As shown in fig. 8, the soleus muscle strength of the TS tail sling group was 0.2N or less, which was significantly lower than that of each of the other groups, and the TSs tail sling tensile group was not significantly different from the CON control group, but significantly lower than the CS ground tensile group, and the soleus muscle strength of the CS ground tensile group was 0.3N or more.

As shown in fig. 9, the soleus wet weight of the TS tail sling group was 0.1g or less, significantly lower than that of each of the remaining groups, and the TSs tail sling tensile group was significantly higher than the TS tail sling group, but significantly lower than the CON control group and the CS ground tensile group.

The experimental result shows that after the TS tail crane group is lifted by the tail crane, the hind limb has obvious bone loss and muscle atrophy; the stretching effectively prevents the hind limb bone loss and the muscular atrophy of the TSS tail crane stretching group and enables the hind limb bone loss and the muscular atrophy to be recovered to a normal level; the stretching of the device of the invention is effective for the hind limb unloading of animals, has positive effect on the animals in a waking state through periodic stretching, and adjusts the angle of the fixing box and the stretching angle according to the individual condition of the animals, thereby ensuring the stretching effect and simultaneously obviously improving the cancellous bone density, the wet weight of the soleus muscle and the muscle strength.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly and can, for example, be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, either internally or in any other relationship. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, "above" or "below" a first feature means that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact with each other via another feature therebetween. Also, the first feature being "on," "above" and "over" the second feature includes the first feature being directly on and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicating that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature includes the first feature being directly under and obliquely below the second feature, or simply meaning that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An animal hind limb stretching device is characterized by comprising a base (101), a fixing box base (102), a fixing box (103), a pedal (105), a motor (106) and a stretching device controller (107), wherein,

the fixed box base (102) is fixed on the base (101), and the fixed box (103) is movably connected on the fixed box base (102), namely the angle between the fixed box (103) and the fixed box base (102) can be adjusted;

the pedal (105) is of a U-shaped plate structure, the front half section of the pedal is inclined downwards by 30 degrees and used for controlling the motion range of hind limbs of animals and completing stretching, the motor (106) is connected with the pedal (105) through a rotating shaft, and the motor (106) is connected with the stretching device controller (107) through a screw;

the fixed box (103) comprises a sliding box (205), a positioning box (203) positioned in the sliding box (205), a movable bolt (209) positioned in the sliding box (205), and a trunk supporting beam (206) positioned at the bottom of the sliding box (205) and used for supporting the trunk of the back half of an animal, wherein the sliding box (205) is composed of two parts capable of sliding up and down relatively, and the height of an internal space can be changed; the outer wall of the positioning box (203) is attached to the inner wall of the sliding box (205), the positioning box (203) can move back and forth in the sliding box (205), and the length of the inner space of the sliding box (205) is changed; the movable bolt (209) is used for adjusting the angle between the fixed box (103) and the fixed box base (102);

the stretching device controller (110) comprises a power supply (301), a control module (302) and a motor driver (303) which are electrically connected.

2. An animal hind limb stretching device according to claim 1, characterized in that the sliding box (205) is provided with a side sliding groove (201) and a sliding box fixing hole (202) at the side, and the sliding box (205) is connected and fixed by a screw; the top of the sliding box (205) is provided with a top sliding groove (204), the top of the positioning box (203) is provided with a positioning box fixing hole (207), and the sliding box and the positioning box are connected and fixed through a screw (203).

3. An animal hind limb stretching device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the positioning box (203) is provided with ventilation holes (208) around it for animal breathing.

4. An animal hindlimb stretching device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the set box base (102) and the stretching device controller (107) are glued by plexiglas or screwed to the base (101).

5. An animal hindlimb stretching device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the immobilisation box (103) is connected to the immobilisation box base (102) by means of an angle code (104).

6. Method for using an animal hind limb stretching device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

s1: the method comprises the steps that an animal is put into a fixed box (103) after being sleeved with a black cloth bag, the positioning box (203) and the sliding box (205) are moved, the space length and the space height inside the fixed box (103) are changed, the trunk of the back half part of the animal is positioned on a trunk supporting beam (206), and hind limbs can penetrate through holes in two sides of the trunk supporting beam (206) and touch a pedal (105);

s2: rotating the movable bolt (209) to adjust the angle between the fixed box (103) and the fixed box base (102);

s3: fixing the hind limbs of the animal on the inclined plane of the pedal (105) by using adhesive tapes to ensure that the feet of the animal are in a relaxed state and are attached to the inclined plane of the pedal (105);

s4: the control module (302) is arranged to control the motor driver (303) to further change the rotation range of the motor (106), so that the stretching angle of the pedal (105) is adjusted, the stretching device controller (107) is started, the motor (106) is utilized to drive the pedal (105), and the hind limbs of the animal are stretched periodically.