GB2094627A

GB2094627A - Therapeutic rocking apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2094627A
Application number: GB8103692A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Ferranti PLC
Current assignee: Ferranti International PLC
Priority date: 1981-02-06
Filing date: 1981-02-06
Publication date: 1982-09-22
Also published as: GB2094627B

Abstract

Therapeutic apparatus (10) (Figure 1) for stimulating motor responses in a brain-damaged patient consists of a platform (15) adopted to form a seat mounted on a support column (14) by way of a universal joint, such as a gimbal arrangement (16) so that it can be rocked about at least two (orthogonal) mounting axes in the plane of the platform by orthogonally disposed actuators 21 in the form of rods 24 (one only shown) reciprocated by piston and cylinder arrangements. The rods are coupled to the platform by universal joints (26) located on the mounting axes so that each actuator is able to rock the platform about the other axis and rotate relative to its own. The rocking motion is determined by an operator which may be a microprocessor programmed to vary the sequence, direction and amplitude of the motion sufficiently randomly for it to be recognisable to the brain but not rejected as too repetitive. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Therapeutic apparatus This invention relates to therapeutic apparatus and in particular to apparatus for stimulating motor responses in brain damaged patients.

Where brain damage resuits in a loss of motor functions of the body it has been found that the brain can to some extent to re-taught by effecting repeated external movements of parts of the body until the brain is stimulated by signals received as a result of such movement to react against the movement.

As en example, it has been found that if a patient who is unable to sit erect unaided is seated on a platform having a curved lower surface lie a rocking chair while grasping a hand-rail and rocked by hand, the continuous throwing off balance eventually cause the brain to respond end produce a reactive motor response tending to counteract the upset in seating position.Clearly a prolonged rocking motion which is too rythmical can have a lulling effect that the brain adapts to and ignores and the therapist has continually to alter the frequency and amplitude of the rocking motion to obtain results. This crude form of apparatus requires a great deal of stamina on the part of the therapis to operated for any effective length of time and the ability to rock the patient in one plane only, unless the seating position of the patient is disturbed, places severe limitations on the efficacy of the therapy.

@t is an object of the present invention to provide therapeutic apparatus for the stimulation of motor responses in brain damaged patients which mitigates disadvantages associated with previous such apparatus.

According to the present invention therapeutic apparatus for the stimulation of motor responses in a brain damaged patient comprises a support col- umn extending from a base, a platform, upon which the patient is carried, supported on the column to assume a normally horizontal attitude by a universal mounting joint arranged to enable the platform to pivot out of the horizontal piane about at least two axes through the mounting joint, actuation means operable to rock the platform about each axis and control means operable to cause the actuation means to rock the platform about each ale at at a time and with an amplitude determined by instructions received from an operator.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a partly sectional elevation of therapeutic apparatus according to the present invention, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the underside of the platform showing the mounting arrangement of the platform and attachment thereto of the actuation means.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 therapeutic apparatus 10 comprises a base 11 which includes an upwardly extending bar 12 the top portion of which is fashioned into a hand rail 13. A support column 14 also extends upwardly from the base 11 and supports a platform 15 by way of a universal mounting joint 16. The mounting joint 16 comprises a gimbal arrangement having an outer frame 17 rigidly attached to the platform ' 5 and connected by first pivot @ins 18, coplanar with the platform, to an inner frame 19.The inner frame 19 9 encloses one end of the support column 14 and is connected thereto by a second pivot pin 20 coplanar with the platform and extending orthogonally to the pins 13. The mounting ;oint 16 enables the platform to assume a normally horizontal attitude and to pivot out of the horizontal plane about the two orthogonal apses of the mount- ing joint pivot pins.

The platform is held and moved about the joint by actuation means indicated generally by actuators 21 and 2ç' associated one each with the mounting axis 22 of the pivot pins 18 and the mounting axis 23 of the pivot pins 20, respectively. The actuator 21 comprises an actuator rod 24 arranged to be reciprocated along its length by a piston (not snown) contained within a cylinder 25.The actuator rod is coupled to the platform by an actuator universal joint 26 com- prising a bracket 27, located in bed relationship with the platform on the axis 22, supporting on elon gaee pin 28 extending orthogonally to the nazis 22 hand having a spherical portion 28. he end of the actuator rod is formed into an annuiar socket 30 into which the spherical portion 28 of the pin 30 is fitted.

Yhe he actuator rod can thus apply pressure to the pin transversely to the pin length while being able to rotate about the spherical portion. The bracket 27 may be attached direct to the base of the platform, as shown in Figure 2, or may be attached to one part of the outer frame 17 as shown in Figure 1.

The cylinder 25 is coupled to the base @ 11 by a pivot pin 31 which permits movement of the cylinder in the plane of the associated axis.

The universal joint of actuator 21' is identical with that of actuator 21 but the spherically enlarged pin lies on, and extends perpendicuiar to, the mounting axis 23.

twill be appreciated from a study of the Figures that reciprocation of the actuator rod 24 causes rocking of the platform about tie ale 23, relative motion between the two being by the socket 31 moving on the spherical pin portion 23. The pin of the universal joint of actuator 21', also on the otis 23, is able to rotate relative to ies associated actuation rod by means of the spherical pin potion within the rod socket The actucors are operated pneumatically by way of a compressor (not shown) contained within the base ii.

The control means comprises conventional solenoid valve(s) which when fed with electric signals cause a reciprocation to be applied to each actuator rod with a length of stroke determined by the signal.

The control means is also arranged to lock the actuator rods with respect to the cylinder when not in operation to support the platform on its unstable mounting joint A contro! panel 32, which may employ switches of any contfenient form, is used to feed signals to data inputs of a microporcessor (not shown) which is programmed to give outputs to the valve controlling each actuator so that they operate one at a time giv ing a different number of reciprocations and differ ent stroke lengths each time.

The platform 15 is upholstered to form a seat 33 upon which a patient is seated so as to grasp (if possible) the hand rail 13. The apparatus functions by reciprocating the actuation rods to impart rocking motions to the seat about different axes. The use of different stroke lengths also provides the effect of different rocking frequency.Thus by changing between actuators and changing stroke length after different numbers of strokes the patient can be rocked in a pattern whereby each rocking combination is repeated for sufficient time to stimulate the brain into interpretting motion sensed by the patients body and commencing a reaction, but for insufficient time for the brain to grow accustomed to the rhythm and dismiss it; and the pattern can be varied sufficientiy randomly or pseudo-randomly (that is without undue repetition) for the brain to be unable to predict changes in motion.

Clearly there are many ways of achieving suitable sequences of motion without a microprocessor to act as an operator of the control means. In the most simple form a therapist in attention during operation of the apparatus can control the actuation means directly, selecting on the control panel 32 which actuator rod is to reciprocated and the stroke length to be employed. This may be supplemented by features such as a timer to define a minimum and/or maximum period of reciprocation of any rod and an interlock to prevent reciprocation of two rods simultaneously. Beyond that there may be counter circuits connected to operate the rods in one or more sequences which are too limited to be thought of as pseudo-random but which permit short periods of "automatic" operation.

Other variations will also be seen. The actuation means described uses pneumatic power. Any other fluid operated system, such as hydraulic, may also be employed. The cylinders of the actuators may be in the form of servo cylinders operated on the force balance feed-back principle by variable pressure fluid signals be purely fluidic control means. Other, non-fluidic, means may be emp loyed to provide reciprocation to the actuators. The actuators may comprise other than piston and cylin der arrangements. For example actuator rods may be formed with a rack gear driven by a pinion of a rotary motor, such as electric motor.

The actuation need not be limited to linear recip rocation by the actuator rods described above. Rot ary motors, whether hydraulic or electric, could be employed to rotate the appropriate part of the mounting gimbal relative to the axes 22 and 23. Such motors would have to be coupled so as to provide braking or resistance to rotation when not in opera tion to maintain the platform attitude on the mount ing joint.

The universal joints described for the mounting joint and the actuator joints are different and repres art just two of a number of possible forms of univer sal joint which may be employed at each location.

For example the joint may be a i--9coke's joint consisting of a cruciform intermediate member pivotally supported between apertures on a bracket attached to the platform and apertures at the end of the rod or support column, or a joint comprising a ball formed at the end of the actuating rod or support column retained within a socket carried by the platform. The mounting and actuation joints may be the same if desired.

The apparatus has been described as a selfcontained unit. If desired the base platform and actuation means can be carried in place of the seat of a conventional wheei chair enabling the treatment to be effected without restricting the mobility of the patient.

In the embodiment described in detail above the mounting joint is pivotable abouttwo orthogonal axes. It will be appreciated that the axes need not be orthogonal, providing a suitable construction of universal joint is used, for example, a ball joint, and the platform may be caused to pivot about more than two axes by appropriate actuators andior combina- tions of actuators.

Claims

1. Therapeutic apparatus forthe stimulation of motor responses in a brain damaged patient comprises a support column extending from a base, a platform, upon which the patient is carried, supported on the column to assume a normally horizontal attitude by a universal mounting joint arranged to enable the platform to pivot out of the horizontal plane about at least two axes through the mounting joint, actuation means operable to rock the platform about each axis and control means operable to cause the actuation means to rock the platform about each axis at a time and with an amplitude determined by instructions received from an operator.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which there are two orthogonal axes.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the mounting joint comprises a gimbal arrangement having an outer frame rigidly attached to the platform and connected by first pivot pins coplanar with the platform to an inner frame, said inner frame enclosing one end of the support column and being connected thereto by a second pivot pin coplanar with the platform and orthogonal to the first pivot pin.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 3 in which the actuation means comprises an actuator associated with each mounting axis, each actuator comprising an actuator universal joint, having one part fixed with respect to said associated axis and spaced from the other mounting axis or axes, coupling lengthwise movement of an actuator rod to the platform to cause rotation of the platform about another mounting axis and permit rotation of the platform about said associated axis due to lengthwise movement of an actuator rod associated with another mounting axis, and rod driving means carried by the base associated with each actuator rod and responsive to signals from the control means to impart a reciprocal lengthwise movement to the associated actuator rod.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the rod driving means comprises a fluid operated double-actuating piston and cylinder arrangement.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the rod driving means comprises a rotary motor carrying a pinion coupled to a rack gear carried by the rod.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the motor is an electric motor.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4to 7 in which the actuator universal joint comprises an elongate pin extending orthogonally to the mounting axis on which it lies and having a spherical portion contained within an annular socket formed on the end of the actuator rod, whereby the rod can apply pressure to the pin transversely to the pin length to rockthe platform while being able to undergo at least limited rotation relative to the pin.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the platform is adopted to form a seat upon which the patient is held in a sealed position.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 arranged to form part of a wheel-chair.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 10 in which the control means comprises an electronic circuit responsive to operator signals indicative of about which axis the platform is to be rocked and of the amplitude of such rocking motion until the operator signals are changed.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the control means is arranged to prevent rocking about more than one axis simultaneously.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12 in which the control means is operable to vary the amplitude of rocking motion about any axis randomly or pseudo-randomly.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13 in which the control means is operable to vary randomly or pseudo-randomly the axis about which the platform is rocked.

15. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the operator is a microprocessor programmed to follow a particular sequence of variation in rocking axis and amplitude to provide instructions to the control means.

16. Thereapeutic apparatus for the stimulation of motor responses in a brain damaged patient substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.